a 
§36. Lay THE BIRD on its back, the bill pointing to your 
Take the scalpel like a pen, with edge of blade _ 
uppermost, and run a straight furrow through the feathers — dan 
along the middle line of the belly, from end of the breast bone : 
Part the feathers completely, and keep them 
right * elbow. 
to the anus. 
parted. + 
Observe a strip of skin either perfectly naked, or only cov- 
ered with short down; this is the line for incision. Take 
scissors, stick in the pointed blade just over the end of the 
breast bone, cut in a straight line thence to and into the anus; 
cut extremely shallow. ¢ : 
Take the forceps in your left hand, and scalpel in your right, 
both held pen-wise, and with the forceps seize and lift up one 
of the edges of the cut skin, gently pressing away the belly- 
walls with the scalpel-point ; no cutting is required; the skin 
may be peeled off without trouble. Skin away till you meet- 
an obstacle ; it is the thigh. Lay down the instruments ; with 
your left hand take hold of the leg outside at the shank; put 
* Reverse this and following directions for position, if you are left-handed. 
j The motion is exactly like stroking the right and left sides of a moustache 
apart; you would never dress the hairs smoothly away from the middle line, by 
poking from ends to root; nor will the feathers stay aside, unless stroked away 
from base to tips. 
+The skin over the belly is thin as tissue paper in a small bird; the chances are 
you will at first cut the walls of the belly too, opening the cavity; this is no great 
matter, for a pledget of cotton will keep the bowels in; nevertheless, try to di- 
vide skin only. Reason for cutting into anus: this orifice makes a nice natural 
termination of the incision, buttonhole-wise, and may keep the end of the cut 
from tearing around the root of the tail. Reason for beginning to cut over the 
edge of the sternum: the muscular walls of the belly are very thin, and stick so 
close to the skin that you may be in danger of attempting to remove them with 
the skin, instead of removing the skin from them; whereas, you cannot remove 
anything but skin from over the breast bone, so you have a guide at the start. 
You can tell skin from belly-walls, by its livid, translucent whitishness instead of 
redness. Ff 

CHAPTER VI. 
HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. 













A. The regular process. 

