35 8 The Book of Woodcraft 



for something good to eat. And last of all the soap in it 

 takes care of the grease in the skin. 



Every part of the under side of the skin and of the 

 bones exposed is to be painted with this cream of the soap. 

 It is well now to lay a thin film of cotton over the skin 

 or sprinkle it hghtly with sawdust to keep the feathers 

 from sticking in the soap. 



Make two tight round plugs of cotton each as big as the 

 eyeball, put one into each eye-socket. 



Now push the head back into its place. This is easy 

 when the neck is slippery with the soap. Work the wing 

 and legs back into their places after wrapping each of the 

 bones with enough cotton to take the place of the flesh 

 cut off. This wrapping is not necessary with very small 

 birds, but the larger the bird, the more it is needed. 



Make a neck of the cotton, push it with the forceps 

 up the neck skin, and well into the skull. Let it hang 

 into the body part, under the string that joins the wing 

 bones. Push another soft wad up the neck and into the 

 throat. 



Shape a large piece of cotton for the body; set it in place, 

 and draw the skin gently over it till the opening is closed. 

 In large birds it is well to stitch this up, but it is not 

 needed in small ones. All that is needed now is the 

 prinking. Use a needle through the openings of the eyes 

 to fluff out the cotton balls in each, tiU they fill out the 

 sides of the head properly. 



Set the innermost wing bones parallel with each other. 

 Aim to arrange the feathers by arranging the skin and 

 bones to which they are attached, rather than by prinking 

 the feathers themselves. 



If the wing was slit open as at X J, (Fig. i), fill the 

 space with cotton and close with a few stitches. 



If at any time it is necessary to leave the specimen half 



