rdboard in the form of "gutters." In
these, padded in wadding, the skins rest until dry.

Fig. 24--"Set" or Drying Board for Birds' Skins.

Often blood and other substances clog and spoil the feathers of a
bird; how to remove these will be found explained in the chapter on
Cleaning Birds' Skins.

Fig. 25--Starling Properly Made Into a Skin With Label Attached.

In noting the sex of a bird an important matter, only managed in most
cases by the aid of a little dissection--it will be necessary to cut
the body, after it is out of the skin, through the ribs along the side
close to the back, open it, and look upon the kidneys (dark coloured
masses apparently let into the hollow of the back-bone at the
narrowest part of the body) for the sexual organs.

If a male, there will appear just upon the upper end of the kidneys,
one on each side of the back bone, two little oval-shaped bodies,
usually of a dull white or light yellow tint (do not mistake the
supra-renal capsules--quite yellow, small, and a little higher up--for
these).

If a female, these two small oval bodies will be replaced a little
lower clown by a string or bundle of eggs, very minute in some
seasons, but strongly marked and large in the breeding season. It is
sometimes difficult to tell the sex--in young birds especially; but a
good plan is to get a bird, known by its plumage to be a male--say a
cock sparrow--and a female bird, and dissect out these organs, putting
them in spirits in separate bottles, the organs of each sex attached
to its part of the bone and kidneys, and keep them for reference until
experience teaches the way to readily decide sexes.

A label is attached to the legs, giving scientific and common name of
bird, sex, locality, and date, and name or initials of collector.
Thus:

No. 1. STURNUS VULGARIS, 1. (Starling).

Sex.--Male Juv.

Colour of irides--Dark brown.

Colour of beak--Dark slate.

Colour of legs & toes--Reddish-brown.

Leicester, 21/9/83. Collector, MB.

In the cases of such birds as the hawks, which have bare spaces around
the eyes (sub, and super-ciliary patches) and around the base of the
beak (cere), note down the colours of these parts also. In the cases
of rare birds the measurements of the extreme length from tip of beak
to tail--again from inner edge of gape to vent, the bill and tail
being measured separately from those points--should be carefully
taken, as also the length of culmen, carpus, and tarsus, an