2. TAKING SPECIMENS IN THE FIELD 9 



Preliminary care of specimens 



The final appearance of the specimen may depend on the care which it 

 receives when first picked up. It should be held by bill or feet, not by the 

 tail. The plumage should be smoothed and examined for any blood or dirt. 

 Blood and mud should be carefully wiped away with absorbent material such 

 as cotton wool, cloth, or paper tissues, care being taken to avoid staining 

 feathers. Any wound or hole, once wiped clean, should be liberally dusted 

 with dusting powder which will help to dry it and clot the blood. A cotton 

 wool plug should be used to cover it and prevent further drainage. Any dried 

 blood on the feathers should be left until after the skinning. The throat 

 should be plugged immediately to prevent drainage of stomach contents and 

 juices, and in larger birds it may also be necessary to plug the nostrils and 

 vent. If flesh-eating or fish-eating birds have the crop or gullet distended 

 with food empty these parts as far as possible by squeezing the contents out 

 through the mouth to avoid unduly rapid decomposition. If the eyes are 

 punctured these should be pressed lightly, dusted with skinning powder, 

 and then dried and covered with a piece of cotton wool. 



The dead birds should be packed for carrying so that they cannot shake 

 about loosely, nor suffer pressure. Large birds should be well wrapped in 

 absorbent but thin material, or in sheets of paper, the plumage being 

 smoothed first to avoid bent or ruffled feathers which are difficult to straighten 

 later. Smaller birds may be placed in cones, prepared by rolling sheets of 

 paper. The bird should be slid in beak first, care being taken that the head 

 is not doubled back. Such cones can easily be packed point downwards in a 

 haversack or bag, and empty cones can be packed one inside the other to 

 occupy little space. 



If the birds are likely to remain unprepared until the next day, or to be 

 carried around for hours in humid weather, it may be necessary to treat them 

 to delay the onset of decay. There is often a rapid deterioration of the skin 

 resulting in the "slipping" of the feathers and of fine structures in the whole 

 specimen before gross decay becomes evident. To prevent this the abdom- 

 inal cavity should be injected with a hypodermic syringe, and the inside of 

 the mouth and throat should be swabbed with a formalin-based solution 

 (see appendix 1). This will arrest decay, and such specimens can be skinned 

 at a much later time than with ordinary specimens. Formalin should not be 

 used on specimens which are to be made into skeletons, but alcohol can be 

 used instead. As far as possible flies should be prevented from laying eggs 

 or larvae on the freshly dead birds since in hot climates this may mean that 

 maggots are already at work by the time that skinning commences. Maggots 

 may be killed by swabbing the affected part with formalin or alcohol. In the 

 Ornithologists' Guide (1956) a technique is described for preserving small 

 birds in the field for subsequent skinning by using salt. This has been found 

 to discolour plumage, soften the bill, and destroy inscriptions on labels and 

 should not be used. 



Collecting external parasites 



Bird collectors may make important contributions to the study of avian 

 parasitology, and external parasites should be collected if circumstances 



