SKINNING AND PKESEEVING BIRDS. 113 



That yon must press as lightly as possible on the bird, and every now 

 and then take a view of it, to see that the feathers are all right. 



That, when you come to the head, you must take eare that the body of 

 the skin rests on your knee ; for, if you allow it to dangle from your 

 hand, its own weight will stretch it too much. 



That throughout the whole operation, as fast as you detach the skin 

 from the body you must put cotton immediately between the body and 

 it, and this will effectually prevent any fat, blood, or moisture from 

 coming in contact with the plumage. Here it may be observed that 

 on the belly you find an inner skin which keeps the bowels in their place. 



By a nice operation with the knife you can cut through the outer skin, 

 and leave the inner skin whole. Attention to this will render jour work 

 very clean, so that, with a little care in other parts, you may ekin a bird 

 without even soiling your finger ends. 



As you can seldom get a bird without shooting it, a line or two on this 

 head will be necessary. If the bird be still alive, press it hard with your 

 finger and thumb just behind the wings, and it will soon expire. Carry 

 it by the legs, and then, the body being reversed, blood cannot escape 

 down the plumage through the shot holes. 



As blood will often have issued out before you have laid hold of the 

 bird, find out the fchot holes by dividing the feathers with your fingers 

 and blowing on them, and then, with your penknife or the leaf of a tree, 

 carefully remove the clotted blood, and put a little cotton in the hole. 

 If, after all, the plumage has not eecaped the marks of blood, or if it has 

 imbibed slime from the ground, wash the part in water without soap, and 

 keep gently agitating the feathers with your fingers till they are quite 

 dry. Were you to wash them and leave them to dry by themselves they 

 would have a very mean and shrivelled appearance. 



In the act of skinning a bird you must either have it upon a table or 

 upon your knee. Probably you will prefer your knee, because, when you 

 cross one knee over the other, and have the bird upon the uppermost, 

 you can raise it to your eye, or lower it at pleasure, by means of the 

 foot on the ground, and then your knee will always move in unison 

 with your body, by which much stooping will be avoided and lassitude 

 prevented. 



With these precautionary hints in mind, we will now proceed to 

 dissect a bird. Supposing we taka a hawk. The little birds will 

 thank us with a song for his death, for he has oppressed them sorely ; 

 and in size he is just the thing. His skin is also pretty tough and 

 the feathers adhere to it. 



We will put close by us a little bottle of the solution of corrosive 



