14 



NSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTORS 



6. Skinning back. With tail completely freed, grip severed backbone 

 with forceps, raise body, and continue to strip skin carefully away from back, 

 working towards head (fig. 4). When pelvis is exposed body can be held in 

 fingers or for very large birds suspended by a hook or string. Fingers can be 



Fig. 4. 



used, but stubborn muscle slips adhering to skin may require cautious use of 

 scalpel. As skinning progresses towards shoulders the skin should be 

 turned inside out to protect plumage. 



7o Detaching wings. Continue skinning until shoulder joints are visible. 

 To detach the wings the humerus bone may be cut through near the shoulder 

 with heavy scissors (fig. 5), especially in small birds, but with practice the 

 shoulder joint may be disarticulated with a scalpel without splintering the 

 bone. Detach both wings. 



8. Skinning head. The skin is now inside out and joined only to head 

 and neck. Gently peel back skin along neck until back of skull comes into 

 view. 



Some birds, such as woodpeckers and ducks, have skulls which are too 

 large to pass through the neck of a skin. If it is not possible to continue 

 peeling the skin over the head to expose the entire posterior half of the skull 

 without tearing the skin it is then necessary to cut off the neck near the base 

 of the skull, leaving enough to use a grip, and then to make an incision in the 

 skin from hind-crown to nape. The remains of neck and back of the head 



