38 
MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 
wings by grasping the end of the humerus in 
the left hand, and press the skin back with the 
right, to the forearm ; then with the thumb-nail, 
or back of the knife, separate the secondary quills 
which adhere to the larger bone from it, thus 
turning out the wing to the last joint or phalanges. 
Cover the skin well with preservative, especially 
the skull, wings, and base of tail ; roll up balls 
of cotton of about the size of the entire eye 
removed, and place in the cavities in such a condi- 
tion that the smooth side of the ball may come 
outward so that the eyelids may be arranged 
neatly over them. Nothing now remains but to 
turn the skin back to its former position. Turn 
the wings by gently pulling the primaries and the 
head, by forcing the skull upward until the bill 
can be grasped ; then by pulling forward on this, 
and working the skin backward with one hand, 
the matter will be accomplished, when the feathers 
may be lightly smoothed and arranged. It must 
be borne in mind that the quicker and more 
lightly a skin is removed the better the specimen 
will look. By lightly, I mean that the skin should 
not be tightly grasped nor stretched by pulling. 
Some workmen will remove a skin from a bird 
which is nearly spoiled without starting a feather, 
