SKINNING.
Immediately after a bird is killed, the throat and nostrils should be stuffed with tow, cotton, or fine rags, and a small quantity wound round the bill to prevent the blood from staining the plumage; but should any get on the feathers, notwithstanding this precaution, the sooner it is removed the better, which should be effected by a sponge which has been merely moistened in water. Too much dispatch cannot be used in removing the skin, if the bird is shot in a warm climate; but, in temperate regions, the bird may be allowed to cool.
Fig. 2.
Manner of holding the hands in skinning a bird.
In proceeding to skin the bird, it should be laid on its back, and the feathers of the breast separated to the right and left, when a broad interval will be discovered, reaching from the top to the bottom of the breast-bone. (See fig. 2.)
(See fig. 2 for the manner of separating the feathers and using the scalpel.) A sharp pen-knife, or scalpel, must be inserted at the point of the bone, and cut the outer skin from thence to the vent, taking care not to penetrate so deep as the flesh, or upon the inner skin which covers the intestines. The skin will then easily be separated from the flesh; in larger specimens, by the fingers, or, in smaller ones, by passing a small blunt instrument betwixt the skin and body, such as the end of the scalpel-handle; with this you may reach the back. The thighs should now be pressed inward, as in the common method of skinning a rabbit, and the skin turned back, so far as to enable you to separate the legs from the body, at the knee-joint. The skin is then pulled downwards, as low as the rump, which is cut close by the insertion of the tail, as shown in fig. 2, but in such a manner as not to injure its feathers. The skin is now drawn upwards the length of the wings, the bones of which must also be cut at the shoulder-joints; it is then pulled up, till all the back part of the skull is laid bare, when the vertebræ of the neck are separated from the head, and the whole body is now separated from the skin. You next proceed to remove the brain, through the opening of the skull, for which purpose it may be enlarged by a hollow chisel, or other iron instrument. The eyes must then be taken out, by breaking the slender bones which separate the orbits from the top of the mouth, in which you may be assisted by pressing the eyes gently inwards, so as not to break them. In skinning the neck great care must be taken not to enlarge the opening of the ears, and not to injure the eyelids. The whole of the flesh is next to be removed from the under mandible.
Fig. 3.
Bird suspended for skinning.
Several species will not admit of the skin being thus pulled over their heads, from the smallness of their necks; some Woodpeckers, Ducks, etc., fall under this description; in which case a longitudinal incision is made under the throat, so as to admit of the head being turned out, which must be neatly sewed up before stuffing. The flesh from the head, wings, legs, and rump, must then be carefully removed with a knife, and the cavities of the skull filled with cotton or tow. The whole inside of the skin, head, etc., must be well rubbed with arsenical soap, or preserving powder, or spirit of turpentine, or the solution of corrosive sublimate. When it is wished to stuff the bird, it may now be immediately done, as it will easily dry, if in a warm climate; but in low, damp countries, it will require artificial heat to do it effectually.
When the skins are merely wished preserved, the bones of the legs and wings should be wrapped round with cotton or tow, so as to supply the place of the flesh; the skin is then inverted and hung up to dry, after using the arsenical soap, as above directed; before doing which, in larger birds, a thread or small string may be drawn through the rump, and passed up to the inside of the neck, and drawn through the bill, to prevent the head from stretching too much by its own weight. In larger specimens, where cotton or tow is not easily to be met with, well-dried hay may be used.
The incision for removing the skin is frequently made under the wings. This may be done with marine birds to advantage. The Penguins and Divers may be skinned by making the incision in the back.
The tongue should either be kept in the mouth, or sent home separately with the birds.
The greatest care must be taken to prevent the fat and oily matter, so common to sea-birds, from getting on the feathers; pounded chalk will be found an excellent absorbent for applying to these birds.
In sending home specimens of birds, they should be each wrapped in paper, and closely packed in a box; and camphor, preserving powder, and strong aromatics, strewn amongst them, to prevent them from being attacked by insects; and they ought to be kept in a very dry part of the vessel.
It is of the utmost consequence to know the color of the eyes and legs of birds, and these things should be carefully noted the moment they are killed; and it should also be mentioned whether they are male or female; such a memorandum ought to be attached to the birds by a ticket. The season of the year in which the bird is killed, must also be mentioned. It is also of much consequence to have good skeletons, and, for this purpose, the carcasses may be sent home in a barrel, either in spirits or a strong solution of salt and water.
Mr. Salt, while in Abyssinia, packed his bird-skins between sheets of paper, and in the same manner as a hortus siccus, or herbarium, and they reached England in perfect safety, and made excellent specimens when set up. In warm climates, the boxes should be well closed, and the seams filled with warm pitch on the outside, to prevent the intrusion of insects; and the inside should be supplied with camphor, musk, or tobacco-dust, which will prevent the attacks of the smaller insects.
Till practice has given facility to the operator, it will assist in keeping the feathers clean, if, as he opens the skin of the breast, he pins pieces of paper or linen cloth on the outside, but after a few trials this will be unnecessary.
Some of the marine fowls are so fat that there is much trouble in separating it from the skin, and in warm weather, great attention will be required to prevent it from running on the feathers. As much as possible should be scraped off, in the first place, with a blunt table-knife or palate-knife, and a quantity of powdered chalk applied, to absorb what remains, which, when saturated with the oily matter, should be scraped off and a fresh supply used, after which a much larger proportion of the preserving powder should be applied than in other birds which are not fat.
When shooting on the sea-coast, if the ornithologist is not provided with these requisites for absorbing the oil, which flows quickly from any wounds of the skin, he will find dry sand a tolerable substitute.
If, however, after every precaution, the oily matter should get on the feathers, the sooner it is removed the better, as, in birds where the plumage is white, if it is allowed to become hardened it will produce a very disagreeable appearance; and, besides, render that part particularly liable to the attack of insects. There are several effectual methods of removing the greasy stains; the first, safest, and best, is, by taking a quantity of diluted ox-gall—or, where it cannot be commanded, sheep’s-gall, or that of any other animal—mix it with about double the quantity of water, and apply it with a sponge to the place which the fatty matter has touched, when it will immediately remove it. The next is by using a solution of salt of tartar, or potash, or soda. This must be made very weak, not exceeding half a tea-spoonful to a cup of water, which will have the same effect as the gall. Whichever of these are used, the place must be immediately afterwards washed in pure water, so as to leave none of the gall or alkaline substance remaining. The gall has a gummy tendency, and will glue together the fibers of the feathers, and, besides, it has a great attraction for moisture, and, in humid weather, will become damp, and therefore produce mold; the other alkaline substances must also be used with much caution and quickness, because they have the power of changing the colors of the plumage, so that they are most useful in white plumage, and therefore should only be used on colored feathers, where gall cannot be procured.
One general observation applies to the preservation of all animal skins, which is, they must be made perfectly dry, so that the sooner they are exposed to a free current of air the better; and unless they are speedily and thoroughly dried, the skin will become putrid and rotten, and the hair or feathers will consequently fall off. If a skin is properly dried, soon after it is killed, it will keep a considerable time without any preservative whatever, only it will be the more liable to be attacked by insects afterwards.
The following excellent general directions for skinning are given by Mr. Waterton:—“While dissecting, it will be of use to keep in mind, that in taking off the skin from the body, by means of your fingers and little knife, you must try to shove it, in lieu of pulling it, lest you stretch it.
“That you must press as lightly as possible on the bird, and every now and then take a view of it, to see that the feathers, etc., are all right.
“That when you come to the head, you must take care that the body of the skin rest on your knee, for if you allow it to dangle from your hand, its own weight will stretch it too much.
“That, throughout the whole operation, as fast as you detach the skin from the body, you must put cotton immediately betwixt the body and it, and this will effectually prevent any fat, blood, or moisture from coming in contact with the plumage.
“As you can seldom get a bird without shooting it, a line or two on this head will be necessary. If the bird be still alive, press it hard, with your finger and thumb, just behind the wings, and it will soon expire. Carry it by the legs, and then, the body being reversed, the blood cannot escape down the plumage and through the shot-holes. As blood will have often issued out, before you have laid hold of the bird, find out the shot-holes, by dividing the feathers with your fingers, and blowing on them; and then, with your pen-knife, or the leaf of a tree, carefully remove the clotted blood, and put a little cotton on the hole. If, after all, the plumage has not escaped the marks of blood, or if it has imbibed slime from the ground, wash the part in water, without soap, and keep gently agitating the feathers with your fingers, till they are quite dry. Were you to wash them, and leave them to dry by themselves, they would have a very mean and shriveled appearance.
“In the act of skinning a bird, you must either have it upon a table, or upon your knee; probably you will prefer your knee, because, when you cross one knee over the other, and have the bird upon the uppermost, you can raise it to your eye, or lower it at pleasure, by means of the foot on the ground; and then your knee will always move in unison with your body, by which much stooping will be avoided, and lassitude prevented.”