MOUNTING SMALL BIRDS. 



Fasten the mandibles tog-ether by thrusting- a pin up throug-h 

 the lower mandible into the skull, or else by passing; a pin 

 through the upper mandible at the nostrils and tying around 

 the bill behind it with a thread. 



It now remains to wind down the feathers with thread to give 

 the bird the exact outline we desire, and to make the feathers 

 lie smoothly. Attend to this with the closest attention and 

 care, for on the success of this process depends the smoothness 

 of your specimen when finished. 



The best method of winding ever known is that developed and 



FIG. 52. The Winding of the Bird. 



practised by Mr. F. S. Webster, whose wonderful skill in the 

 treatment of birds is already widely known. His birds are mar- 

 vels of smoothness and symmetry, and I take great pleasure in 

 describing his method of winding- as the best known. First 

 make six hook- wires by filing- six pieces of wire, each two inches 

 long-, to a sharp point at one end, and bending- the other with 

 the pliers in the form of a double hook. (See Fig-. 52.) Insert 

 three of these in a line along the middle of the back, and two 

 along the middle of the breast, as seen in the cut. The wing- 

 wires are not to be cut off, but left sticking- out for half an inch. 

 The bird is now divided into equal halves, and there are three 

 wing-wires on each side, so that it will not be very difficult to 

 wind both sides alike. 



