10 THE ORNITHOLOGISTS AND OOLOaIsTS’ SEMI-ANNUAL. 
men of it. Work down until you are stopped by the wings ; and rec- 
collect that as you work, the skin is being turned inside out. When 
the wings are reached, you must sever them close to the body(inside 
the skin of course)just as you did the leg. Seize the wing-stump with 
the fingers and work the skin down as you did on the body until you 
come to the secondaries. ‘These feathers are grown to the arm-bone 
(ulna) and require loosening from the bone. They can be stripped 
down by using the thumb-nail, taking care to work the skin loose all 
round to prevent tearing. Having skinned to the bend of the wing, 
the ‘ulna’ is stripped of all flesh and allowed to remain, all the other 
bones with muscles being removed. Do not skin beyond bend of the 
wing. If the “ulna” or leg bone has been broken by a shot, a piece 
of sharpened wire can be made to take their place—the wing requires 
this bone to hold it in position. Having skinned the wings, leaving 
them turned inside out, skin down towards the head, which is the 
easiest part of the job. 
You now meet with the head and it will take patient work to skin 
over this. Always remember to push and not pull the skin, and pres- 
ently you’ll be rewarded by seeing the skin slip over the head to where 
it is pinned to the head by the ears. With the small tweezers detach 
the membrane that lines the earopening. Do this for both ears. You 
have now come to the eyes. Work very carefully here. Cut the 
eye membranes from the bone, and inserting the point of the scalpel 
lift the eye from its socket entire. It’s hard to give instructions how 
to do this and it must be learned by actual work. Take care not to 
open the eye-ball or lacerate the eye-lids. During all this time the 
skin must be supported in your left hand, (left-handed people will 
work the contrary way)and must not be allowed to hang as this would 
unduly stretch the neck and give you trouble. You will now separate 
the body from the skin, and to do this, cut down the base of the skull 
with the scalpel, severing completely body and neck from it. Sccop 
out the brain through the opening in base of skull and your skin is 
ready for poisoning. 
If you have no drawer in your table to hold the arsenic, a large 
shallow cigar box or any other box of suitable size will an- 
swer. With a spoon or spatula apply the arsenic to every part of the 
skin, (inside) putting plenty in the brain cavity, eye-sockets, mouth 
and on the tail stump. Shake off all the surplus into the box, the 
moisture of the skin causing sufficient to adhere. Roll up two small 
