ORNITHOLOOICAL AND OOLOQICAL COLLEliTlNO. 9 



your note-book.' You may now brf ak the humerus or upper arm bone of each wing 

 with your fingers in order that the wings will hang down out of the way.^ Lay the 

 bird on its back and separate the feathers along the breast, and with a scalpel or 

 sharp pen-knife make an incision, beginning high up on the breastbone and down 



1. DIRECTIONS FOR MEASUREMENT OF BIRDS.— I cannot recommend any other 

 system of measurement than that given by Dr. Elliott Coues in his matchless work: Key 

 to North American Birds. His directions are as follows: . 



For large birds, a tape-line showing fourths will do; for smaller ones, a foot-rule 

 graduated for inches and eighths, or better, decimals to hundredths, must be used; and 

 for all nice measurements the dividers are indispensable. 



Length.— Distance between the tip of thfe bill and end of the longest tail-feather. 

 Lay the bird on its back on the ruler on a table; take hold of the bill with one hand and 

 of bothlegs with the other; -pull with reasonable force to get the curve all out of the neck; 

 Hold the 'bird thus with the tip of the bill flush with one end of the ruler and see where the 

 end of the tail points. 



Put the tape-line in place of the ruler, in the same way for larger birds. 



Extent. — Distance between the tips of the outspread wings. 



They must be fully outstretched, with the bird on its back, crosswise on the ruler. 

 Its 'bin pointing to your breast. 



Take hold of right and left metacarpus with the thumb and forefinger of your left 

 and right hand, respectively, stretch with reasonable force, getting one wing-tip flush with 

 one end of the ruler, and see how much the other wing-tip reaches. With large birds pull 

 away as hard as you please, and use the table, floor or side of the room; mark the points 

 and apply tape-line. 



Length of Wing. — Distance from the carpal angle formed- at the bend of the wing to 

 the end of the longest primary. 



Get it with compasses for small birds. In birds with a convex wing, do not lay the 

 tape-line over the curve, but under the wing in. a straight line. This measurement is the 

 one called for short "the wing." 



Length of Tail.— Distance from the roots of the rectrices to the end of the longest one. 

 Feel for the pope's nose; in either a fresh or dried specimen there is more or less of a pal- 

 pable lump into which the tail feathers stick. Guess as near as you can to the middle 

 of this lump; place the end of the ruler opposite this) point, and see where the tip of the 

 longest tail-feather comes. 



Length of Bill. — Some take the curve, of the upper mandible; others the side of the 

 upper mandible from the feathers; others the gape, etc. I take the chord of the culmen. 

 Place one foot of the dividers on the culmen Just where the feathers end; no matter 

 whether the culmen runs up on the forehead, or the frontal feathers run out on the 

 culmen, and no matter whether the culmen is straight or curved. Then with me the length 

 of the bill Is the shortest distance from the point just indicated to the tip of the upper 

 mandible; measure it with the dividers. In a straight bill of course it is the length of the, 

 culmen itself; in a curved bill, however, it is quite another thing. 



Length of Tarsus.— Distance between the joint of the tarsus with the leg above, and 

 that with the first phalanx of the middle toe below. Measure it always with dividers, 

 and in front of the leg. 



Length of Toes.— Distance iii a straight lino s'on^ the upper surface of a toe from the 

 point last indicated to the root of the claw on top. Length of toe is taken without the claw, 

 unless otherwise specified. 



Length of the Claws. — Distance is a straight line from the point last indicated to the 

 tip of the claw. 



Length of Head.— Is often a convenient dimension for comparison with the bill. Set 

 one foot of the dividers over the base of the culmen (determined ap above) and allow the 

 other to slip snugly down over the arch of the occiput. 



2. BREAKING THE HUMERUS IN BIRDS' WINGS.— This is of little importance 

 and entirely a matter of habit. As for myself I prefer never to break the upper arm bone 

 of any bird, even if the wings do come constantly in the way during the process of skin- 

 ning. It is easier to skin a bird after the rigor mortis has passtu off than while it remains 

 in its death stifti.css. This comes on more or less speedily according to temperature and 

 climate, and a freshly killed bird at all times bleeds too freely to skin. It should be given 

 time for the blood to coagulate and the muscles to relax. (Continued on next page.^ 



