30 
MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 
in my hand, or, by suspending it to a limb of 
a tree, where I could return for it afterwards. 
Care should be taken in such cases, however, to 
wash all the blood off, and then plug the wound 
with cotton, as if any flows out when the plumage 
is wet it will spread on the feathers and stain 
them. In picking up birds that are only wounded 
never take them by the tail, wing, or any part of 
the plumage, but grasp them firmly in the hand 
in such a way as to imprison both wings, then 
kill them by a firm pressure of the thumb and 
forefinger, applied to the sides just back of the 
wings. This compresses the lungs, and the birds 
die of suffocation almost instantly. Never strike 
a bird, no matter how large, with a stick, but in 
case of hawks, eagles, etc, the talons of which are 
dangerous, seize them first by the tip of one 
wing, then by the other, work the hands down- 
ward until the back is grasped, then apply the 
pressure to the lungs. There is no danger from 
the beak of even the most formidable species 
after the pressure is put upon the lungs, for I 
never knew a specimen to bite while being killed 
in this way ; the only thing necessary is to 
keep out of the way of their talons. I have fre- 
quently been obliged to remove eagles from a box 
