118 



RECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



small pieces of twigs or small branclies of 

 trees sliould be kept ready for use, of vari- 

 ous sizes according to the size of the bird ; 



■mm. 



sometbing of tbis form. Spanish 

 chestnut, or common laurel cut in 

 December, will be found to answer 

 best, but this must be regulated by- 

 fancy and the requirements of 

 the case ; oak boughs are sometimes 

 of a good shape. 



The best time for preserving specimens 

 is in spring, because then the cock birds are 

 in the best feather, and the weather is not 

 too warm. In mild weather three days is a 

 good time to keep a bird, as then the skin 

 will part from the flesh easUy. If a 

 specimen has bled much over the feathers, 

 so as to damage them, wash them carefully 

 but thoroughly with warm water and a 

 sponge, and immediately cover them with 

 pounded whitening, which will adhere to 

 them. Dry it as it hangs upon them slowly 

 before the fire, and then triturating the 

 hardened lumps gently between the fingers, 

 the feathers will come out almost as clean as 

 ever. To test whether the specimen is too 

 decomposed to skin, try the feathers about 

 the auriculars, and just above the taU, and if 

 they do not move you may safely proceed. 



Lay the bird on his back, and, parting the 

 feathers from the insertion of the neck to the 

 tail, you will find in most birds a bare space. 

 Cut the skin the whole length of this, and 

 passing the finger under it on either side, by 

 laying hold of one leg and bending it for- 

 ward, you wiU be able to bring the bare knee 

 through the opening you have made ; with 

 your scissors cut it through at the joint ; pull 

 the shank stUl adhering to the leg till the 

 skin is turned back as far as it wUl go ; 

 denude the bone of flesh and sinew, wrap 

 a piece of hemp round it, steeped in a strong 



solution of the pounded alum, and then puU 

 the leg by the claw, by which means the 

 skin will be brought again to its place. 



After having served both legs alike, skin 

 carefully round the back, cutting oiF and 

 leaving in the taU with that into which the 

 feathers grow, that is, the "Pope's nose." 

 Serve the wing bones the same as the leg, 

 cutting them off" close to the body, and turn 

 the skin inside out down to the head. The 

 back of the skull will then appear, and you 

 will now find it of advantage, as soon as you 

 have got the legs and taU free, to tie a piece 

 of string round the body, and hang it up as 

 a butcher skins a sheep. Make in the back 

 of the skull a cut of the annexed form, with 

 your knife, which you can turn back like a 

 trap-door, and with the marrow-spoon entirely 

 clear out the brains ; A 

 representing the neck, 

 and B the skin turned 

 back. Having done 

 this, wash the interior 

 of the skull thoroughly 

 with the alum, and fill 

 it with cotton wad- 

 ding. The next operation requires care 

 and practice ; namely, to get out the eyes. 

 This is done by cutting cautiously until the 

 lids appear, being careful not to cut the eye 

 itself, and you can then with a forceps, which 

 you will likewise find useful, pull each from 

 its socket ; wipe the orifice carefully, wash it 

 with the alum solution, and fill it with cotton 

 wadding. Cut off" the neck close to the skull, 

 wash the stump, and the whole of the interior 

 of the skin with the alum, and the shinning 

 is done. Now comes the stufiing. The ordi- 

 nary mode used by bird-preservers is a simple 

 one, and answers very well ; there is a French 

 method, however, which has its advantages, 

 and will be adverted to hereafter. Take a 

 piece of the wire suitable to the size of the 

 bird, that is, as large as the legs will carry, 

 and bend it into the following form, a repre- 

 senting the neck, h, the body, and c, the 



