52 TAXIDEEMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING 



head back where it belongs. At the same time, you must push 

 on the skull with your thumbs, as if trying to push it into the 

 neck, and in a very short time, by a combination of coaxing and 

 crowding, the skin made passes the critical point on the skull, 

 and, presto ! the whole skin is right side out once more. Now 

 take it by the bill and give it a gentle shaking to stir up the 

 feathers so that they will fall back naturally. Pluck outward 

 the cotton in the orbit into the 'opening of the eye, to imitate 

 the round fulness of the eyeball. 



The wing bones of very small birds need not be wrapped with 

 cotton, but the leg bones should be, always. Now take a bunch 

 of cotton batting of the right size, and roll it between the palms 

 until it attains the proper size to fill the neck, and is a trifle 

 longer than the entire body and neck. Fold over one end of 

 this, take it between the points of your forceps, insert it through 

 the neck, and into the cavity of the skull. Tuck up the other 

 end at the tail, and give the cotton body its right length. Then 

 in the middle of the skin, pull the cotton roll apart sidewise, 

 spread it out and lay on it a ball of cotton to form the body. 



Next, take hold of the broken humerus with the forceps, and 

 pull it inward until the joint of the wing appears, and the two 

 humeri lie parallel and close to each other. This draws the 

 wings into place. 



Be sure to put enough cotton in the body of a skin ; for a 

 little plumpness and rotundity is desirable in a small skin. 

 Avoid making cylindrical bird skins; avoid the East Indian 

 native habit of crowding the breast of a bird clear up into its 

 neck, and also avoid stretching a skin. 



We have now to finish the head by inserting a little bunch of 

 cotton in the throat, until that part is properly filled, and 

 plucking out or cutting off the surplus. The mandibles must 

 be held together by a thread or a pin until they have dried in 

 position. Next adjust the wings, legs, and tail. The tail 

 should be slightly spread, and there are two ways of doing this. 

 One is to reverse the natural overlapping of the tail feathers, 

 which is the quickest way, and quite satisfactory. The other 

 is to lay the skin on a board, put a pin through each corner of 

 the " pope's nose," spread the tail, and thrust the pins into the 

 board until the skin is dry. Finally, tie on your label, which 



