94 PRACTICAL TAXIDEKMY. 



liand, and a piece of wool between tlie riglit-liand finger and 

 thumb; tlien insert tlie point of the awl between the upper 

 and lower mandibles, and, having opened them, keep them 

 open with the first finger of the right hand, removing the 

 piece of wool which should have been previously placed there 

 by the sportsman (see instructions re shot birds, at end of 

 Chapter II,). Replacing it with the fresh piece of wool held 

 in readiness, plug the nostrils in the same manner. As even 

 this simple operation will have somewhat disarranged the 

 feathers of the head and neck, smooth them down with the 

 fingers, taking care, however, not to stretch the neck in doing 

 so. The next operation is to hold the left-hand wing with 

 the left hand, and with the fingers of the right hand break 

 or disjoint the bone of the wing as close to the body as pos- 

 sible, i.e., across the "humerus " (E) (in the case of large birds, or 

 for some special purpose, this bone is often left intact, but 

 the amateur will be puzzled how to subsequently arrange it 

 in the skin if unbroken). Repeat this on the other wing. 

 For those whose fingers are not strong enough to do this 

 eifectually, I recommend a small pair of flat-nosed pliers, some 

 sizes larger than the " feather pliers " (Fig. 19). 



Large birds may have their wings broken at the humeri (E) 

 by striking them with a stick or hammer in such a manner 

 as not to break nor seriously disarrange the feathers; the 

 largest-sized pliers (Fig. 16) may also be used for this pur- 

 pose, but in that case a piece of clean rag should be folded 

 in the jaws of the pliers so as to envelope the upper and 

 under surface of the wing, in order to protect the feathers 

 from injury. Practice will, however, point out the best method 

 of doing this. Next take hold of the legs with the fingers 

 and gently twist them out of joint at the junction of the 

 tibia and femur. 



Now, keeping the head of the bird toward you, part the 

 feathers away from each side of the sternum or breast-bone ; 

 then with the knife held short in the hand, the point placed 

 exactly in the centre of the bird (calculating from the bill 

 to the tip of the tail), make the first incision just on the right 

 side of the breast bone down to the vent, taking care not tc 

 cut so deeply as to expose the intestines. Now turn the bill 



