96 
absorbing the grease with absorbent will be sufficient. Do not loosen the 
tail feathers or cut off the roots so that they fall out. The tip of the tail 
bone may be left in place between the middle feathers. The skin of the 
rump is in many cases lined with considerable fat, but is usually thin in 
this region and the feathers may be loose, so handle this part gently. 
Any patches of flesh and fat should be removed from the inside of the 
whole body skin. In small birds the fat is usually found in well-defined 
areas on the rump, sides of back, breast, and neck. The fatty tissues can 
generally be loosened at the edges and peeled off towards the centre, and 
the oily residue soaked up with the cornmeal or sawdust absorbent. Some- 
times the absorbent must be rubbed in, scraped off, and renewed several 
times before the inside of the skin is clean. 
Small holes made by shot or punctured in skinning and scraping need 
not cause any great concern if they are under a feathered area, and a 
larger rip can generally be sewn together without damaging the specimen 
very much. Fancy embroidery work on a skin takes time, however, and 
the necessity for it should be avoided when possible. 
Tying Up Wings 
One of the greatest difficulties that the young collector meets in trying 
to “ make ” a perfect bird skin, is to keep the wings in proper place. The 
body filling has a tendency to bulge at the shoulders, causing the upper 
wing coverts to stick up. When the skin is wrapped tightly to correct this 
tendency, there is apt to be too much constriction elsewhere, spoiling 
the shape for a prize skin. Wings should always be made fast on the 
inside of the skin, or they will fall away from the body and are easily 
broken off. Another useful method recommended by Major Allan Brooks 
for medium-sized birds is to clean the humeri (upper wing bones) and 
bind them together by wrapping firmly with a wisp of cotton, which holds 
the wings firmly in place. 
The ordinary method of fastening wings is to slip a cord between the 
ends of each ulna and radius at the elbow joint and knot it firmly. Draw 
in the elbow joints until the two humeri lie parallel at the natural position 
from each other and tie the cords together at this distance (Figure 33). 
This attaches the wings fairly well, but does not entirely prevent undue 
bulging anterior to the junction. 
A better method of holding wings in proper position is by “ the 
Chapin stitch” (Chapin, 1929, 19). A stitch is run through the forward 
end of each scapular feathcr-tract and these are drawn together approxi- 
mately to the distance separating them in the living bird and tied firmly 
with a “square” knot (Figure 31). This makes the arrangement of the 
wing and adjoining feathers vastly easier. Major Allan Brooks, whose 
bird skins are models for any collector, uses the “ Chapin stitch ” for small 
birds only. 
Many birds have wings of characteristic shape or outline which are 
diagnostic of the species in flight, and others have peculiar patterns on the 
under surface of quills and axillars that are not readily examined in an 
ordinary dried skin without danger of breaking off the wing. It is desirable 
for a large study collection to have one specimen each of such species made 
up with one wing cut off, spread to full extent, and pinned out flat to dry 
