452 
COLLECTING BIRDS. 
pin, a stout needle or a sharp-pointed piece of stiff wire, and, in a small tin box or 
case, some cornmeal and plaster of Paris, keep the two separate. Never forget to take 
a shell extractor, as it will sometime save you much trouble in this world, and, per¬ 
haps, if you are disposed to be profane, considerable misery in the next. I once 
heard an old hunter remark that “nothin’ was as tryilig on a man’s cussin’ powers 
as to have a cartridge git stuck when the game was agoin’,” and I believe he was 
right in the statement. 
When a bird is shot pick it up by the legs, feet, or bill, unless it is a crippled heron, 
eagle, hawk or owl, all of which should be handled with great care when wounded, 
otherwise you may be seriously injured by a thrust of the spear-like bill of the 
heron, or the relentless grasp of the sharp and powerful talons of the large birds of 
prey, and if it is not dead, end its suffering at onpe by pressing firmly, with the 
thumb and fingers, on each side of the body close to the wings. Plug nostrils, mouth, 
vent and shot-holes with cotton to prevent blood or other fluids from soiling the 
plumage. This is best accomplished by taking small cone-shaped plugs of cotton 
and pushing them, not rudely but gently, into the openings, with a pin, sharp-pointed 
stick, piece of wire, or small blade of a pocket knife. Open the mouth and push 
down the throat a small quantity of cornmeal, or, if you have nothing better, a little 
fine dry dirt, and then insert the plug of cotton wadding. If an eye has been injured 
and the fluids are likely to escape, it should be removed at once. This can be done 
by quickly plunging between the eyelids and to the bottom of the orbit the point of 
a small knife blade, a strong pin, or a stiff piece of wire, and by gently pulling and 
prying upward the eye will be torn from its attachments. A little practice will soon 
enable one to become so expert that an eye can be taken out without smearing the 
feathers of the surrounding parts; but to avoid injury to a specimen it is well to 
take a piece of cotton and draw it snugly over the side of the head and make an 
opening in it through which the broken eye can be operated upon. When the eye 
has been removed fill the cavity from which it was taken with cornmeal, then gouge 
it out, and repeat this process until all fluids are absorbed, and the me 4 l in the socket 
is dry. 
Drops of blood can be removed by a rapid stroke of a knife blade, or if you are not 
overly fastidious a “lick of the tongue ” will often remove all traces of blood spots. 
Bloody feathers should be squezed out by drawing them carefully between thumb 
and finger, or between the thumb and dull blade of a kniie. White plumaged birds . 
when bloody should be washed at once with clean water, after the shot-holes and 
other orifices are plugged, and the feathers dried with plaster of Paris ; other birds, 
i. e. those of dark-colored dress, when stained can be washed with water and dried 
with cornmeal. When your specimen has been cared for, as already detailed on 
previous pages, make a cornucopia or paper funnel and drop it in head first; fold ends 
of paper over, but be careful to not include in the folding either the tail feathers or 
tips of wings, and lay it in the basket. 
How to Skin a Bird. 
Before skinning a specimen you should make notes, for future reference, of the 
colors of the eyes (i. c. of the iris), bill, legs, feet and claws, and in certain birds of 
prey the color of the cere should be noted ; in fact, any of the colors of the external 
parts of a bird’s anatomy not covered with plumage should be recorded. 
Number all specimens, and keep a catalogue in your note book with numbers cor¬ 
responding to those on labels of the specimens. Jot down in the note book the bird J s 
scientific name, locality where taken, date of capture, sex, contents of crop and giz¬ 
zard, and all items of interest relating to the species, which were made in the field. 
The length from point of bill to end of tail, or tips of toes, and the extent of wings 
should also be taken. 
To be of any scientific value, a specimen must be labeled with at least the sex, 
date and locality, and young birds, especially nestlings, should have their scientific 
names on the labels, but full grown birds can always be identified, and although, 
