[17] DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING BIRDS RIDGWAY. 



tail aud cut through the vertebra} at the last joiut, taking care not to 

 sever the bases of the quills. Suspend the body by inserting the hook 

 into the lower part of the back or rump,* and invert the skin, loosening 

 it carefully from the body. On reaching the wings loosen the skin from 

 around the first bone and cut through the middle of it, or, better, sep- 

 arate it from the body through the joiut. Continue the inversion of 

 the skin by drawing it over the ueck until the skull is exposed. Ar- 

 rived at this point, detach the delicate membrane of the ear from its 

 cavity iu the skull, if jiossible, without cutting or tearing it; then, by 

 means of the thumb nails, loosen the skin from other parts of the head 

 until you come to the eyes, where extreme care is necessary in cutting 

 through the white nictitating membrane to avoid lacerating the ball. 

 Scoop out the eyes, and, by making one cut on each side of the head, 

 through the small bone connecting the base of the lower jaw with the 

 skull, another across the roof of the mouth behind the base of the upper 

 mandible, and between the jaws of the lower, aud a fourth (horizontally) 

 through the skull behind the orbits and parallel to the roof of the 

 mouth, you will have freed the skull from all the accompanying brain 

 and muscle. Should anything still adhere it may be renioved sepa- 

 rately. In making the first two cuts care must be taken not to injure 

 or sever the zygoma, a small bone extending from the base of the upper 

 mandible to the base of the lower jaw bone. Clean oft" every i^article 

 of muscle and fat from the head and skin of the neck, and invert the 

 skin of the head to the very base of the bill. 



Then skin the wing down to the wrist joint, detatching the roots of 

 the larger feathers (secondary and primary quills) with the thumb 

 or finger nails ; remove the muscle from the bones, leaving all of the 

 latter.t The legs should then be skinned down to the lower joint of the 

 thigh (the heel, or tibio-tarsal joint), aud the flesh removed from the 

 bone. Remove all the muscle and fat, including the oil gland, from 

 about the base of the tail, great care being taken not to cut the roots 

 of the feathers, which would cause them to drop out. 



During every stage of the i^rocess of skinning the following very im- 

 portant things should be specially remembered: (1) always handle the 

 skin, when detatching it from the body, as close as possible to the point 

 of adhesion, to prevent stretching, a stretched skin being far worse 

 than one full of holes or rents ; (2) always keep the fingers between the 

 feathers and the flesh, to prevent soiling the plumage; (3) apply plenty 

 of corn meal or other suitable absorbent whenever a bloody or fatty 

 place is exposed. 



Certain kinds of birds require deviation from the aboye rules in some 



* As mentioned on page 10 this hook may, with practice, be dispensed with. In 

 fact, many collectors aud taxidermists never use one. 



t Mauy prefer to clean the wiug by an entirely diiferent method, au iucision being 

 made on the under side along the bone, aud the liesh removed through the opening 

 thus made. This is the better way with large birds. 



28321— Bull. 39—2 



