THIN SKINS, ETC. FAT. 75 



and when it is properly effected it is surprising what little space 

 a crane, for instance, occupies. But it is rarely, if ever, admis- 

 sible to bend a tail back on the body however inconveniently 

 long it may be. Special dilations of skin, like the pouch of a 

 pelican, or the air sacs of a prairie-hen, may be moderately 

 displayed. 



§40. Thin skin. Loose plumage. It is astonishing how 

 much resistance is offered by the thin skin of the smallest bird. 

 Though no thicker than tissue paper, it is not very liable to tear 

 if deftly handled ; yet a rent once started often enlarges to an 

 embarrassing extent if the skin be stretbhed in the least. 

 Accidental rents, and enlargements of shot-holes, should be 

 neatly sewn up, if occurring in an exposed place ; but in most 

 cases the plumage may be set to hide the openings. The tro- 

 gons are said to have remarkably thin and delicate skin ; I 

 have never handled one in the flesh. Among our birds, the 

 cardinal grosbeak has, I think, about the tenderest skin. The 

 obvious indication in all such cases is simply a little extra 

 delicacy of manipulation. In skinning most birds, you should 

 not loose more flian- a feather or two, excepting those loos- 

 ened by the shot. Pigeons are peculiar, among our birds, 

 for the very loose insertion of their plumage ; you will have 

 to be particularly careful with them and in spite of all your 

 -precautions a good many feathers will probably drop. Strip- 

 ping down the secondary quills from the forearm, in the manner 

 already indicated, will so almost invariably set these feathers 

 free from the skin that I recommend you not to attempt it, 

 but to dress the wings as prescribed for large birds. 



§41. Fatness. Fat is a substance abhorred of all dissec- 

 tors ; always in the way, embarrassing operations and obscur- 

 ing observations, while it is seldom worth examination after 

 its structure has once been ascertained. It is particularly 

 obnoxious to the taxidermist, since it is liable to soil the plu- 

 mage during skinning, and also to soak into the feathers after- 

 wards ; and greasy birdskins are never pleasing objects. A 



