THE ORNITHOLOGISTS’ AND OoLocists’ SEMI-ANNUAL. II 
pellets of cotton and fill the eye-sockets. You are now ready to turn 
the skin, and if you will remember how it was everted you will have no 
trouble in getting the head back. It requires a little dexterity to do this 
at first, but it doesn’t take long to learn. Having turned the skin, 
pull the wings out and lay the skin on its back. Make a roll of cotton 
slightly smaller than the neck, put one end of this in the tweezers and 
work it gently up the neck until the empty brain box is reached. With 
the fingers of one hand hold the cotton in place, (the end in the brain 
cavity) and remove the tweezer and the neck is stuffed. Cross the 
wing-bones on the back,(some recommend tying them together) and 
make an artificial body of cotton, taking the natural body for a model, 
and work it carefully into the skin, keeping the end of the roll of cot- 
ton that you put in the neck in your left hand. When the body is in 
position, you can shorten the neck of the skin by pulling on the roll 
of cotton ; or if you wish to lengthen the neck, a slight pull on the 
head will do it. Having the neck the proper length, tuck the cotton 
along the artificial body and bring the edges of the skin together. 
Arrange the eyelids and any feathers that may be awry, set the wings 
in position and slip the skin into the paper cylinder that you made 
before commencing the skinning. Having made your skin and writ- 
ten the label, the determination of sex comes next. Lay the bird on 
its side, (belly towards you) cut with the scissors from rump to the 
ribs, pushing the intestines aside and you will see the small of the 
back. Capping the kidneys you will see the testis, (if a male) ‘“‘a pair 
of ellipsoidal bodies” generally of a dull whitish tint ; if a female, the 
ovary, a white granular mass occupies the same position. Mark the 
sex on your label, cross the legs of the skin and loop the label on 
where they cross, and lay the skin away to dry. 
The above instructions apply to nearly all birds ;some Woodpeck- 
ers and Ducks cannot be skinned the usual way, the head being too 
large to pass through the neck skin. In such cases skin to the base 
of the skull, cut off the head inside the skin and turn the skin back 
to its natural position. Part the feathers in a straight line down the 
back of the skull and make an incision long enough to allow the head 
to pass through. After skinning, the head is put back and the cut 
sewed up, taking fine stitches—it’s a tedious operation. 
If blood or any other substance has dried on the feathers they can 
be washed out. Do this immediately after skinning and before filling 
out with cotton. Take a sponge and with luke-warm water wash out 
