Taxidermy. 



339 



BIRDS. 



Of the many species of Indian birds, there is a very large propor- 

 tion which, from their beauty, singularity of plumage or habits, or 

 their rarity, we should wish to see represented by preserved speci- 

 mens. The process of preserving the skins of birds is very simple — 

 a scalpel or two, a pair of nail scissors, some cotton, wool, or tow, 

 a pot of arsenical soap, a brush, needles and thread, are the only 

 articles required to be provided, and even some of them may be dis- 

 pensed with. When a bird is shot the mouth is to be stuffed with 

 cotton wool, any blood removed by wiping or washing if necessary, 

 and the shot holes, if bleeding or large, plugged with a piece of cot- 

 ton twisted into a point and introduced with a pin. The bird should 

 then be wrapped up in paper. When the body is cold the upper 

 wing bones should be broken close to the body, when they do not 

 interfere with future operations. Lay the bird on its back on a table, 

 separate the feathers on each side of the central line, and make an 

 incision from the top of the breast bone to near the vent. If plaster 

 of Paris, or powdered chalk, or flour — but the last is the worst— be 

 at hand, use it in dusting between the body and the skin as you 

 proceed to separate the latter carefully, introducing pledgets of cotton, 

 to prevent the feathers getting soiled. When the skin has been de- 

 tached for a little way all round, using the finger for this purpose 

 as much as possible in preference to the knife, cut through the leg at 

 the thigh joint, then work down to the rump, and cut through at 

 the base of the tail with one snip of the scissors, taking care to re- 

 tain the tail bones in which the feathers are fixed. The skin of the 

 rump should then be turned back and retained with the left hand, 

 when the process of detaching the skin may be continued as far as 

 the shoulders. The wings are then to be separated, where the bone 

 had previously been broken, the neck stripped as far as the head, the 

 skin drawn over the head as far as the ears (which are to be cut 

 through at the base), the eyelids cleared from then attachments, the 

 ears scooped out with the scissors, and the skin drawn down to the 

 base of the bill.* The neck should then be cut through at its 



* In the case of some birds with large heads and slender necks, as 

 all the ducks, the black cockatoos, &c, where the skin of the neck 

 cannot be drawn over the head, it is necessary to cut off the neck as 



