SKINNING BIRDS. 
39 
while others may skin a specimen as quickly, but 
the plumage will be crushed and broken through 
rough usage. The time for removing the skin 
from a small bird should not exceed six minutes, 
and I have seen it taken off in half this time. Of 
course the beginner will be longer than this ; and 
then the skin should be occasionally moistened, 
by using a damp sponge. 
Section II. : Exceptions to the Usual 
Method of Skinning. — In case of birds which 
are very soft on account of having been dead a 
long time, it may be advisable to open either be- 
neath the wing, making a short incision along the 
side or above the wing, cutting along the feather 
tracks just above the scapularies ; and some skin 
ducks through a hole in the back just above the 
rump. I do not, however, advise such practice, as 
a rule, as the skins are more difficult to make up, 
and the bird cannot be mounted quite as readily. 
Woodpeckers with large heads and small necks, 
like the pileated and ivory-billed, and ducks having 
similar characteristics, as the wood, pintail, and a 
few other species ; also flamingoes, sand-hill, and 
whooping cranes, cannot be skinned over the head 
in the usual manner, but the neck should be cut 
off after the skin has been removed as far as pos- 
