38 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. 



plumage ; but it is of course conspicuous on light or white feathers. Dried blood may often 

 be scraped oflF, in imitation of the natural process by which a bird cleanses its plumage with 

 the bill ; or be pulverized by gently twiddling the feathers between the fingers, and then 

 blown off. But feathers may by due care be washed almost as readily as clothing ; and we 

 must ordinarily resort to this to remove all traces of blood, especially from white surfaces. If 

 properly dried they do not show the operation. With a soft rag or pledget of cotton dipped in 

 warm water bathe the place assiduously, pressing down pretty hard, only taking care to stroke 

 the feathers the right way, so as not to crumple them, until the red color disappears ; then you 

 have simply a wet place to deal with. Press gypsum on the spot ; it will cake ; flake it off 

 and apply more, till it will no longer stick. Then raise the feathers on a knife-blade and 

 sprinkle gypsum in among them ; pat it down and shake it up, wrestling with the spot till the 

 moisture is entirely absorbed. Two other fluids of the body will give you occasional annoy- 

 ance, — the juices of the aUmentary canal and the eye-water. Escape of the former by mouth, 

 nostrils, or vent is preventable by plugging these orifices, and its occurrence is inexcusable. 

 But shot often lacerates the gullet, crop, and bowels, and though nothing may flow at the 

 time, subsequent jolting or pressure in the game-bag causes the escape of fluids : a seemingly 

 safe specimen may be unwrapped to show the whole belly-plumage a sodden brown mass. 

 Such accidents should be treated precisely like bloodstains ; but it is to be remarked that these 

 stains are not seldom indelible, traces usually persisting in white plumage at least in spite of 

 our best endeavors. Eye-water, insignificant as it may appear, is often a great annoyance. 

 This liquor is slightly glairy, or rather glassy, and puts a sort of sizing on the plumage difficult 

 to efface ; the more so since the soiling necessarily occurs in a conspicuous place, where the 

 plumage is too scanty and delicate to bear much handling. It frequently happens that a lacer- 

 ated eyeball, by the elasticity of the coats, or adhesion of the lids, retains its fluid till this is 

 pressed out in manipulating the parts; and recollecting how the head Ues buried in plumage at 

 that stage of the process, it will be seen that not only the head, but much of the neck and even 

 the breast may become wetted. If the parts are extensively soaked, the specimen is almost 

 irreparably damaged, if not ruined. Plaster will absorb the moisture, but much of the sizing 

 may be retained on the plumage ; therefore, though the place seems simply wet, it should be 

 thoroughly washed with water before the gypsum is applied. I always endeavor to prevent 

 the accident; if I notice a lacerated eyeball, I extract it before skinning, in the manner 

 described for woodpeckers. Miscellaneous stains, from the juices of plants, etc., may be 

 received ; all such are treated on general principles. Blood on the beak and feet of rapacious 

 birds, mud on the bill and legs of waders, etc., etc., may be washed off \\dthout the slightest 

 difficulty. A land bird that has fallen in the water should be recovered as soon as possible, 

 picked up by the biU, and shaken ; most of the water will run off, unless the plumage is com- 

 pletely soaked. It should be allowed to dry just as it is, without touching the jdumage, 

 before being wrapped and bagged. If a bird fall in soft mud, the diit should be scraped or 

 snapped off as far as this can be done without plastering the feathers down, and the rest 

 allowed to dry ; it may afterward be rubbed fine and dusted off, when no harm will ensue, 

 except to white feathers wliieh may require washing. 



3Iutilation. — You will often be troubled, early in your practice, with broken legs and 

 wings, and various lacerations ; but the injury must be very severe (such as the carrying away 

 of a limb, or blowing off the whole top of a head) that cannot be in great measure remedied by 

 care and skill. Suppose a little bird, shot througli the neck or small of the back, comes apart 

 while being skinned ; you have only to remove the hinder portion, be that much or little, and 

 go on with the rest as if it were the whole. If the leg bone of a small bird be broken near 

 the heel, let it come away altogether ; it will make little if any difference. In case of the 

 same accident to a large bird that ought to have the legs wrapped, whittle out a peg and stick 



