TAXIDERMY. 73 



The skin is now inside out. Powder with arsenic, 

 or soap with arsenic soap, turn it right side out, smooth 

 the plumage, set the bones of legs and wings into 

 proper position, and the bird is ready for stuffing. 

 A pellet of cotton, as large as the bird's eye, should 

 be passed into the skin, and pressed into each socket. 

 Over this adjust the eyelids. Wrap a little cotton 

 around the leg-bones of large birds. Insert a cyl- 

 inder of cotton, rather smaller than the neck, into the 

 neck. Mould the body-stuffing into a mass, rather 

 smaller than the bird's body. Bring the edges of the 

 skin nicely together over this, and the stuffing is 

 completed. Fold the wings neatly, adjust the head 

 and neck, bring the feet together, and press the bird 

 into the proper shape. The usual fault is too much 

 stuffing, especially between the shoulders. For mount- 

 ing specimens some knowledge of comparative anat- 

 omy is desirable. The habits of each bird must be 

 carefully studied, as well as its peculiar manner of sit- 

 ting, standing, holding the head, etc. The art of tax- 

 idermy should be carefully studied, from such manuals 

 as Swainson's, Brown's, or Sylvester's. Captain Brown's 

 book is published at $1.50, by G. P. Putnam's Sons, of 

 New York. It is still better to secure a few practical 

 lessons from a good taxidermist. 



EGG-COLLECTING. 



Hardly any other branch of natural history is so 

 liable to abuse as that pertaining to the eggs of birds. 

 There is something fascinating about the search for 

 them. The artful devices of the nest-builders to hide 

 their fragile buildings in sequestered places, as if to 

 challenge the acuteness, alertness, and agility of boys ; 

 the interesting structure of the nests ; and the rare 

 beauty of the eggs themselves ; have always proved 



