NOTES ON MAKIXCi 151 RI) SKINS. 



F. E. FLEMING. 



Having seen in RECREATION several re- 

 quests for information on the art of taxi- 

 dermy, I will attempt to give its readers a 

 few hints on making small bird skins. 



In the first place, when preparing for 

 your trip, do not fail to place in your hunt- 

 ing bag a bunch of cotton batting, and a 

 small pair of tweezers. Carry, also, some 

 paper cones, * of different sizes. When you 

 have brought down your bird, open its 

 mouth, fill the throat with a small tuft of 

 cotton and stop the vent in the same man- 

 ner. Plug each shot hole, also. This pre- 

 vents the plumage from getting soiled, and 

 saves you some work after the operation. 

 Place each bird in a cone, to keep the 

 feathers in place. Keep your birds as fresh 

 as possible. The first signs of decomposi- 

 tion always appear on the abdomen, where 

 the feathers and epidermis slip off. 



If your bird does get soiled, it must be 

 washed before the skin is removed. Get a 

 shallow box, of convenient size, and put in 

 enough plaster of paris to cover the bird. 

 Now take the bird, and with a tuft of cot- 

 ton and cold water, wash the dirt and blood 

 away. This done thoroughly, place the bird 

 in the box, and cover its wet plumage with 

 plaster of paris, changing the plaster as 

 fast as it gets damp, otherwise it will cake 

 and stick to the feathers. When the 

 feathers are thoroughly dry, take the bird 

 to a place where there is a circulation of air, 

 and dust it carefully and thoroughly, to re- 

 move all the plaster. 



Now comes the skinning. At best this 

 is a delicate piece of work, and at first is 

 quite difficult. But practice makes perfect, 

 and you must not get discouraged if your 

 first attempts are not entirely satisfactory. 

 The tools necessary are, a sharp scalpel (if 

 you do not possess one use your pen knife), 

 a pair of bone breakers, or a heavy pair of 

 shears, and a pair of small curved scissors, 

 if you have them. With these and some 

 plaster of paris, cotton batting, and prepa- 

 ration for curing the skin, you are ready to 

 begin. 



Place the bird on the table, with the head 

 to your left; take the scalpel between the 

 right thumb and forefinger, holding the 

 bird and parting the feathers with the left 

 hand, and proceed to cut the skin in a line 

 from the centre of the breast to the vent. 



* I do not agree with ihe author in thinking that the fin- 

 ished skin should be put in a paper cone. To ornithological 

 curators, such skins come out faulty in shape. The method 

 approved by the highest authorities consists in wrapping 

 each skin in a very thin sheet of cotton batting, or cotton 

 " wadding," so arranging the parts and the plumage and 

 so shaping the body and neck during the process, that the 

 skin finally has the exact shape the dead bird exhibited be- 

 fore it was operated on. — Ed. 



The shorter you make this cut, in skinning 

 a bird, the better, as there is less sewing to 

 be done at the finish, and you get the body 

 in better shape. Gently work the skin away 

 from the base of the body, and be sure not 

 to stretch the skin. Run one point of the 

 bone breakers, or shears, under the flesh 

 and bones at the base of the tail, just below 

 the vent, and cut off the tail; leaving 

 enough flesh on the tail feathers so that 

 they will stay in place when cured. Next 

 gently force the skin down on the sides, 

 cut off the legs close to the body, and draw 

 the skin down carefully toward the head till 

 you reach the wing bones. Next break the 

 wing bones, and cut off the wings at the 

 point where broken. Now force the skin 

 clown the neck to the base of the skull. 



In some of the larger birds, the skin of 

 the neck will not pass over the head; in 

 which case, skin as far as possible, then tie 

 a string tightly around the neck, cut off the 

 neck just below the string, and cover the 

 end of the neck with plaster of paris to stop 

 the blood. Then turn the skin back over 

 the head and cut a slit in the back of the 

 neck, from the base of the skull forward, 

 large enough for the skull to be drawn 

 through it. 



In most small birds, however, this proc- 

 ess is not necessary. By carefully and pa- 

 tiently working the skin forward with the 

 fingers, it is possible to turn it wrong side 

 out over the skull, down to the eyes. Here 

 the membrane, which attaches the eyelids 

 to the edge of the orbit, must be cut 

 through, great care being taken to avoid 

 cutting the edges of the eyelids. This being 

 done, a few more touches of the scalpel 

 bring you to the base of the bill, which is 

 as far as you can go. 



Now take your shears, cut off the base of 

 the skull, and clear the brain cavity, thor- 

 oughly. Dig out the eyes, and remove 

 every particle of flesh and fat from the 

 skin, legs and wings. On birds as large as 

 a robin, you must slit open the skin along 

 the inside of the wing, and remove all flesh 

 from the bones. 



After this has been accomplished dust 

 skin on inside with the mixture of pow- 

 dered alum and arsenic; then turn the skin 

 back, and fill the eye sockets with cotton, 

 the size of the original eye. Next take a 

 penholder, and wrap enough cotton around 

 it to make a false neck, and anchor the end 

 of the cotton roll in the brain cavity. 

 Smooth the feathers, and draw out the pen- 

 holder. 



Next take a bunch of cotton large 

 enough to make the body, and place it un- 

 der what remains from making the neck. 



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