22 TAXIDERMY AKD ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



one cannot always get the game and the camera together. A 

 note-book and a pencil one can always carry, and even when 

 you have the camera, the former often proves the better ally of 

 the two. 



OUTLINES. For years it has been my constant practice to make 

 outlines of dead animals, on large sheets of paper, before skin- 

 ning them. My plan is to lay the specimen on its side on a 

 sheet of heavy manila paper, place the legs and feet in an easy 

 walking attitude, pin or nail them fast in place, then mark en- 

 tirely around the animal with a long lead pencil. To get an 

 exact diagram of a rather large mammal, I invented a wooden 

 square, cariying a pencil point at its outer angle, with which it 

 was easy to get the exact outline of a large animal, or large 

 skull. In mounting a specimen, such an outline is of great 

 value as a check on errors in proportion that might easily be 

 made in putting it together. 



FIELD NOTES. There are hundreds of specimens on which you 

 will not need to take notes, unless you have the time to study 

 their habits, find out what they eat, how they live, etc. But of 

 rare and interesting objects you will want to record all the 

 information you can gather regarding their life history. To 

 determine what they feed upon, examine the contents of their 

 stomachs. If there is no time to do that in the field, then pre- 

 serve the stomachs in alcohol, carefully labelled, and examine 

 the contents at your leisure. Learn how to observe, and then 

 put down in black and white, between substantial leather covers, 

 all that you do observe, and all that is told to j^ou by the 

 natives about species with which they are familiar. Do not 

 forget to ascertain and record the native names of your speci- 

 mens, for after you get home you will be certain to wish to 

 know them. One thing is certain; when you come to write 

 about your collection, you will wish you had taken more notes 

 in the field. 



While a specimen is fresh, take careful notes as to the color 

 of all the soft parts that will lose their color when the skin 

 is dry. Learn to describe colors accurately, and, if possible 

 (though this seems like asking a great deal !), try to describe 

 colors so that afterward, when your notes get cold, you your- 

 self will know what they mean ! 



