
190 HINTS ON TAXIDERMY. 
sprinkle the spots with dust, sand, powdered chalk, or any 
other similar substances. These precautions being observed, 
all stains caused Py blood or internal secretions will be pre- 
vented. 
A paper tunnel UM now be made in the same manner 
as those used by grocers, the bird placed in it with the head 
towards the point, and the upper part folded over and fixed 
in this position by means of a pin, taking eare not to injure 
the tail feathers by bending or displacing them. The parcel 
should then be placed in a box, sufficiently large to accommo- 
date it without crowding, and the remaining space filled with 
grass, paper, or any substance more easily obtained; this 
will prevent the specimen from being injured by friction. In 
our own portion of the country during the colder seasons, 
also in the more northern latitudes, a bird may be allowed to 
remain (in extreme cases) forty-eight hours before the oper- 
ation of skinning is undertaken, but half the time is a safer 
rule. In the summér season it may be permitted to lie until 
the blood has coagulated and the limbs have stiffened ; but 
in all tropical countries the operation cannot be effected with 
too great dispatch. If the specimen is allowed to remain 
any length of time beyond that above stated, the feathers 
about the head and abdomen are apt to fall off, thus render- 
ing it more difficult to remove the skin; and the specimen 
often becomes unfit for preservation. Before skinning à 
bird, particular attention should be given to the color of the 
eyes, bill and legs, because these parts are liable to lose 
their tints after life is extinct, the color of the feathers upon 
the various parts of the body. Measurements should also - 
. be taken after the following manner, in feet, inches and frac- 
tions of an inch: 
Total length from the tip of tie bili to the end of the tail, 
? li" neck being stretched out in a straight line; length of the 
primary quills of the wing; total length of the bill, meas- 
n.  uring either from the feathers on the forehead, following the 
* curve of the tne down to the tip, or from the angle of 


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