BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [16] 



of tlie soft parts, tliey should be carefully noted, this being a very im- 

 portant matter and one sadly neglected by collectors. If the collector 

 can provide himself with a small box of good water colors and suitable 

 brushes, together with some pads of drawing paper, rough sketches 

 of bills, feet, etc., may be made and the colors exactly reproduced.* 

 If not thus provided, or even as an additional aid if he is, a set of 

 named colors on paper should be at hand to help him in naming the 

 different hues.t 



The girth of the bird may then be taken by means of a band of stiff 

 paper passed round the middle of the body over the wings, and pinned 

 in the form of a ring. It is then slipped off towards the feet and, after 

 the skin is prepared, is replaced, the stuffing inserted being enough to 

 keep it from falling off". The exact circumference of the original bird 

 can thus be readily maintained. In fact, the ring may be slipped on 

 before the stuffing is commenced and enough cotton inserted to fill out 

 the shoulders within the paper. 



After these preliminaries, relax the wings and legs by pulling and 

 stretching; then make an incision through the skin only, from the 

 lower portion of the breastbone to the anus. Should the intestines 

 protrude in small specimens, they had better be extracted, great care 

 being taken not to soil the feathers or to mutilate the sexual organs, 

 thereby rendering it difScult or perhaps impossible to determine the 

 sex. Now, proceed carefully to separate the skin on one side from the 

 subjacent parts until you reach the knee, and expose the thigh, when, 

 taking the leg in one hand, push or thrust the knee up on the abdomen 

 and loosen the skin around it until you can place the scissors or knife 

 underneath and separate the joint with the accomijanying musch.'s. 

 Apply a quantity of corn meal to the space between the skin and the 

 carcass to prevent adhesion and to keep the feathers clean. Repeat 

 this operation for the other leg. Loosen the skin about the base of the 



*The writer would, from practical experieuce, recommend that a japanued tiu box 

 with spaces for 18 to 24 half pans (or 9 to 12 fnll pans) be obtained, and filled with 

 the following moist water-color«, all half pans, except the Chinese white, which 

 should consist of a full pan : 



1. Lamp Black. 7. Lemon Yellow. 13. Bnrut Umber. 



2. Payne's Gray. 8. Pale Cadmium. 14. Kaw Umber. 



3. French Blue. 9. Scarlet Vermilion. 15. Bistre. 



4. Permanent Blue. 10. Carmine. 16. Yellow Ochre. 



5. Viridian. 11. Light Red. 17. Chinese White. 



6. Emerald Green. 12. Burnt Sienna. 



The above list is indispensable and will enable one to imitate almost any hue found 

 in nature; but, if the collector does not mind increasing the number of pigments, 

 the following might be added with advantage: 



18. Hooker's Green, No. 2. 20. Cadmium Orange. 22. Purple Madder. 



19. Olive Green. 21. Indian Ked. 23. Antwerp Blue. 



tFor this purpose a small book entitled "A Nomenclature of Colors for the use of 

 Naturalists," published by Little, Brown &, Company, Boston, Massachusetts, is 

 specially adapted, and may be obtained at a cost of $4. 



