HOW TO MAKE A BIUDSKIN. 35 



" large "' birds, say anything from a hen-hawk upward, variuus special niauipulatinns I have 

 directed may be foregone, wliile however you observe their general drift ;ind intent. You may 

 open the bird as directed, or, turning it tail to you, cut with a knife.' Fcjrceps are rarely 

 required ; there is not much that is too small to be taken in hand. As soon as the tail is 

 divided, hang up the bird by the rump, so you will have both hands free. Let it swing clear 

 of the wall or table, at any height most convenient. The steel hooks of a dissecting case are 

 not always large enough ; use a stout fish-hook with the barb filed ofl'. W(jrk with your nails, 

 assisted by the scalpel if necessary. I kuow of no bird, and I think there is none, in this 

 country at least, the skin of which is so intimately adherent by fibrous or nmscular tissue as 

 to require actual dissecting throughout ; a pelican comes, perhaps, as near this as any ; but in 

 many cases the knife may bo constantly employed with advantage. Use it with long clean 

 sweeping stridses, hugging the skin rather tlian the body. The knee and shoulder commonly 

 require disarticulation, unless you use bone-nippers or strong shears ; the four cuts of the skull 

 may presuppose a very able-bodied instrument, even a chisel. The wings will give you thi; 

 most trouble, and they require a special process ; for you cannot readily break up the adhesions 

 of the secondary quills to the ulna, nor is it desirable that very large feathers should be 

 deprived of this natural support. Hammer or nip off the great head of the upper arm-bone, 

 just below the insertion of the breast muscles; clean the rest of that bone and leave it in. Tie 

 a string around it (what sailors call "two half hitches" gives a secure hold cm the bouy 

 cylinder), and tie it to the other humerus, inside the skin, so that the two bones shall be rather 

 less than their natural distance apart. After the skin is brought right side out, attack the 

 wings thus: Spread the wing under side uppernKjst, and secure it on tlio table by driving 

 a tack or brad through the wrist-joint; this fixes the far end, while the weight of tlje skin 

 steadies the other. Raise a whole layer of the under wing-coverts, and make a cut in the skin 

 thus exposed, from elbow to wrist, in the middle line between the two forearm bones. Eaise 

 the flaps of skin and all the muscle is laid bare ; it is to be removed. This is best done by 

 lifting each muscle from its bed separately, .slipping the handle of the scalpel under the 

 individual bellies ; there is little if any bony attachment except at each end, and this is readily 

 severed. Strew in arsenic ; a little cotton ujay be used to fill the bed of muscle removed fmm 

 a very large bird ; bring the flaps of skin together, and smooth down the coverts ; you need 

 n( pt be particular to sew up the cut, for the coverts will hide the opening ; in fact, the operation 

 does not shovi' at all after the make-up. Stulfiug of large birds is not commonly done witli 

 only the four pieces already directed. The eyeballs, and usually the neck-cylinder, go in as 

 before; the body may be filled any way you please, provided you do not put in too much 

 stutfing nor get any between the shoulders. All large birds had better have the leg-bones 

 wrapped to nearly natural size. Observe that the leg-muscles do not form a cylinder, but a 

 cone; let the wrapping taper naturally from top to bottom. Attention to this point is neces- 

 sary for all large or medium-sized birds with naturally prominent legs. Tlic large finely 

 feathered legs of a hawk, for example, ought to be well displayed ; with these birds, and also 

 with rails, etc., moreover, imitate the bulge of the thigh with a special wad laid inside the 

 skin. Large birds commonly require also a special wad introduced by the mouth, to make 

 the swell of the throat ; this wad should be rather fluffy than firm. As a rule, do not fill out 



1 Certain among larger birds are often openetl elsewbere tlian along the belly, with what advantage I cannot 

 say from my own experience. Varions water birds, such as loons, grebes, auks, gulls, and ducks (in fact any 

 swimming bird with dense under plumage) may be opened along tlie side by a cut under the wings from the 

 shoulder over the hip to the rump; the cut is completely hidden by the make-up, and the plumage is never ruffled 

 But I see no necessity for this ; for, as a rule, the belly opening can, if desired, be completely effaced with due care, 

 though a very greasy bird with white under plumage generally stains where opened, in spite of every precaution. 

 Such birds as loons, grebes, cormorants, and penguins are often opened by a cut across the fundament from one 

 leg to the other; their conformation in fact suggests and favors this operation. I have often seen water birds slit 

 down the back ; but I consider it very poor practice. 



