40 MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



sible, and then a slit should be cut in the back of 

 the head, and the head be skinned through this 

 orifice, but an abundance of absorbent should be 

 used to prevent the feathers from becoming soiled. 



Care should be exercised in skinning cuckoos, 

 doves, thrushes, and some species of sparrows, as 

 the skin is not only thin, but the feathers start in 

 the rump and back very readily. Peel the skin off 

 gently, and do not fold it abruptly backward in 

 working on these parts, but hold it as nearly as 

 possible in its original position. The skin of the 

 wood duck, and sometimes that of the hooded 

 merganser, adheres to the flesh of the breast^ but 

 it may be separated by working carefully with the 

 back of the knife. In removing the skins of young 

 birds in the down, like ducks and gallinaceous birds, 

 do not attempt to skin the wings. 



If a specimen is to be mounted with the wings 

 spread, the secondaries should not be detached, 

 but the knife should be forced down back of the 

 primaries in order to break up the muscles ; then 

 as much of the flesh as possible should be removed, 

 and a quantity of preservative pushed in beneath 

 the skin. In larger birds a slit should be made 

 on the under side of the wing, and the muscles 

 removed from the outside without detaching the 



