166 



THE OSPREY. 



CLEANING THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS WITHOUT ABSORBENT. 

 By Gbo. B. Turner, Chief Taxidermist, Q. S. Nat. Museum. 



Until recently I have always been under the 

 impression that a bird skin, which is being' pre- 

 pared for mounting, would not stand the same 

 treatment as that given to a mammal skin. 



Mammal skins for taxidermic purposes are 

 beamed down or scraped to remove the fat ami 

 meat from the insides of the pelt. Afterwards 

 they are treated to a bath of acid pickle" com- 

 posed of salt water and sulphuric acid. When 

 thoroughly cured they are rinsed in fresh water, 

 washed in soapine and thoroughly dried in hue 

 sawdust. I find after a little experimenting, 

 that a bird skin may go through the same pro- 

 cess; but it is not advisable to use sawdust in 

 drying- feathers. Nor should plaster of paris 

 be used, for it is an exceedingly difficult and 

 long task to remove all the plaster from the 

 feathers, and if the least bit remains the mount- 

 ed specimen will show evidence of this neglect 

 on the pedestal on which the particles of plaster 

 will sift from the feathers and the least hand- 

 ling of such a specimen produces a cloud of 

 dust which is very disagreeable, making a 

 handicap in studying the specimen for scientific 

 purposes. 



No absorbent of any kind should be used in 

 drying feathers for it is next to impossible to 

 get it all out again. 



Plaster of paris tends to make the feathers 

 harsh and destroys the natural gloss. In doing 

 away with the use of absorbents in drying" 

 feathers of bird skins which need washing, it is 

 necessary that the skin must first be cured; 

 or otherwise it will not stand the thorough 

 washing and treatment. Therefore it must be 

 placed in acid pickle for curing and allowed to 

 remain from one to several days according - to 

 the size of the specimen. All fat and meat 

 must be removed from the skin; this may be 

 done before or after it is placed in pickle. 

 When cured it will stand any amount of wash- 

 ing- and handling- without fear of feathers or 

 epidermis slipping-. The scales on the legs of 

 a Flamingo which I mounted recently had begun 

 to slip; whereupon I placed them together with 

 the whole pelt in acid pickle; when cured the 

 fixing of the scales was complete and gave no 

 further trouble. 



The cured skin should next be rinsed in fresh 

 water and treated to a thorough washing with 

 soapine to remove all dirt and grease from the 

 feathers and hide; afterwards it should be 

 thoroughly rinsed in several waters to remove 

 the soapine. 



Gently squeeze the water out of the feathers 

 beginning at the head, working down towards 

 the tail, care being taken not to rub the feathers 

 the wrong- way; it is best done by squeezing, 

 not rubbing. 



Give the specimen a good shaking and hang 

 up on a line to dry. While (living it should be 

 taken up from time to time and given a shaking 

 t" prevent tin- feathers from matting. If an 

 electric fan is at hand, hang the specimen in 

 front of it: the wind will dry and Huff the 

 feathers. 



If the work is carefully done from start to 

 finish, it will be found, when dry. that every 

 feather is as clean and glossy as it ever was in 

 life; even the down at the roots will be found to 

 bo clean and fluffy and the skin absolutely 

 devoid of grease. The drying and stiffening of 

 the skin during this drying process which is 

 apt to ensue, is a small matter for if it has been 

 properly cleaned of all meat and fat and the 

 pickle has thoroughly cured its pelt, the skin 

 may easily be relaxed for mounting by applying 

 a little water to its inner service or by placing 

 it in a damp cloth over night. 



Dry skins may be treated in the same way, 

 but before bring placed in pickle should be re- 

 laxed a little by soaking in fresh water for a 

 few minuter; the scraping of the skin being 

 done after it has cured. 



Curing and drying' by the method described 

 above is quicker and easier than the old method 

 of cleaning the feathers in plaster of paris and 

 allowing the hide to dry raw. 



Drying of bird feathers in plaster of paris or 

 any absorbent should now be given a back seat 

 for it is quite unnecessary. It is a very disa- 

 greeable operation and I think taxidermists will 

 welcome a method that will do away with the 

 necessity of it. 



Taxidermists have never been in the habit of 

 subjecting" a bird skin to a curative other than 

 arsenic in powder or soap. It penetrates where- 

 ever it touches, but there are often places which 

 it does not reach and that spot, is subject to 

 decay and attack of moths. How much better 

 it is to cure the entire skin, to preserve it from 

 decay and moths alike. For this acid pickle 

 preservative not only cures the skin, but makes 

 it moth proof without the aid of arsenic. 



This at least has been so in the cases on 

 which I have experimented. My first experi- 

 ment was on a Herring- Gull. After the skin 

 had been cured and cleaned, by the process des- 

 cribed, it was allowed to lay in an exposed posi- 

 tion inviting moths and dermestes to help them- 

 selves for months; but they respectfully declined 

 to have anything to do with t lie pelt or feathers. 

 Therefore I feel confident in saying" that this 

 method of curing and cleaning- a bird skin 

 makes it absolutely moth proof. 



*The formula for acid pickle (tan liquor) is given in "The Art of Taxidermy" by John Rowley. 



