DRYING AND PACKING SKINS. 69 



tioned to be condemned), I will tell yon the easiest and best 

 way, by which the most elegant and tastefnl results are almost 

 necessarily secured. The skins are simply laid away in cotton, 

 just as they come from your hands. Take a considerable wad 

 of cotton, make a " bed " of it, lay the specimen in, and tuck 

 it up nicely around the edges. In effect, I generally take a 

 thin sheet of cotton wadding, the sizing of which confers some 

 textile consistency, and wrap the bird completely but lightly in 

 it. By loosening or tightening a trifle here or there, laying 

 down a "pillow" or other special slight pressure, the most deli- 

 cate contour-lines may be preserved with perfect fidelity. Un- 

 necessary pother is sometimes made about drying skins ; the 

 fact being that under ordinary circumstances i\xQy could not be 

 kept from drying perfectly ; and they dry in exactly the shape 

 they are set, if not accidentall3^ pressed upon. At sea, how- 

 ever, or during unusually protracted wet weather, they of 

 course dry slowly, and may require some attention to prevent 

 mildew, and even souring, especially in the cases of XQiy large, 

 thick-skinned or greasy specimens. Thorough poisoning, and 

 drj'ing by a fire, or placing in the sun, will always answer. 

 Very close packing retards drying. When travelling or oper- 

 ating under other circumstances requiring economy of space, 

 you must not expect to turn out your collection in elegant 

 order. Perfection of contour-lines can only be secured by put- 

 ting each specimen away by itself ; undue pressure is always 

 liable to produce unhappily outre configuration of a skin. 

 Trays in a packing box are of great service in limiting possi- 

 bilities of pressure ; they should be shallow ; for one four 

 inches deep will take a well stuffed hen hawk, for example, or 

 accommodate 3-6 sparrows a-top of each other. It is well to 

 sort out your specimens somewhat according to size, to keep 

 heavy ones off little ones; though the chinks around* the 

 former may usually be economized with advantage by packing 

 in the less valuable or the less ne^iitly prepared of the latter. 

 When limited to a travelling chest, I generally pass in the 

 skins as fast as made, packing them "solid" in one sense, yet 

 hunting up a nice resting place for each. If each rests in its 



