English: “Opposite its nape” — from the back of the neck; “he shall not sever” — he does not separate the head from the body, distinguishing the chatas bird from the olah bird.
In Sifra: Melikah is performed with the kohen’s fingernail at the nape. For the chatas the head remains attached; for the olah bird the head is fully detached. The blood is then sprinkled on the lower wall of the altar.
Type of Learning
Custom (procedural contrast chatas vs olah bird).
What Is Learned
Bird chatas is killed by nape melikah without full detachment of the head; this marks it off from the bird olah.