Zevachim 64 – Bird Sin-Offering and Burnt-Offering

The bird sin-offering is done in the following way. While all animal offerings are slaughtered with a knife, a bird is killed by piercing the back of its neck with the right thumbnail of a Kohen. This type of slaughter, called “melikah,” is valid only for bird offerings in the Temple. The Kohen must take care not to separate the head of the bird from its body. Then he would sprinkle some of the bird's blood upon the Altar at the southwest corner, and the remainder of the blood must be squeezed onto the base of the Altar. The meat of the bird is eaten by the Kohanim.

For the bird burnt-offering, the Kohen first ascends the ramp, then goes on the surrounding ledge, and arrives at the southeast corner. There he kills the bird in the same way (melikah), and may separate the head from the body. He squeezes out its blood on the wall of the Altar, saturates the head of the bird with salt, and burns it on the Altar. Then he throws the crop and the feathers to the place of the ashes, thirty cubits away, and burns the body.

Art: Jean Baptiste Greuze - Young Girl Weeping for her Dead Bird-1759