THE OREGON NATURALIST. 
that 
the skin is being continually turned inside out 
that purpose. It will now be observed 
or in other words the body is being peeled. 
When you arrive at the place where the 
wings are attached, dislocate, absorbing blood 
if any, continueskinning down to base of skull, 
where, tightly tie a thread around the neck of 
body. 
Care must now be observed, that the weight 
of skin does not stretch it, or, that the skin is 
not torn when turned over skuil. 
The skull of some species are too large to be 
thus skinned and an incision has to be made at 
the nape. A list of such families will be given 
later. 
With care the skin may be — successfully 
turned. =, Do not pull it, rather push or press 
it over, and if so unfortunate as to tear the 
skin, carefully sew the rent from the inside, 
the skull being exposed, the ears next demand 
attention, they should be torn loose with the 
fingers. Do not cut the ear membrane. 
And the eyes come next. Where great care 
must be exercised that the skin or eye-lids are 
not cut when cutting around the eye socket. 
The eye-lids being detached, the base of bill 
is reached,and excepting wings, the bird is 
skinned. 
(To be continued.) 
THE MOUNDBUILDERS. 
Looking over my cabinet of archeological 
treasures, recall to mind many pleasant re- 
searches in pursuit of the relics of a long passed 
away race of people who once inhabited the 
Mississippi Valley, the only remaining eviden- 
ces of whose existence are their handiwork in 
and the 
mounds reared by these people on the lofty 
implements of stone and copper, 
bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and 
through the valleys of the middle states. 
In one of my first expeditions, in quest of 
relics I opened a mound near the city of Du- 
buque, Iowa. 
point of a bluff overlooking the Mississippi. 
This mound was on the highest 
And was the only one of a group of five left 
LoS) 
nn 
It 
was about six feet in height and probably 50 
unopened by the Smithsonian institute. 
feet in circumference. After digging from the 
summit of the mound to a depth of about five 
feet I came upon the bones of probably six 
skeletons, as near as I could judge, but so de- 
cayed tnat they crumbled to dust upon attempt- 
ing to remove them. 
Underneath these I found a grooved ax of 
beauiifal workminship, weighing 3 pounds, 
in perfect condition, every part of which is as 
true as if the makcr had used a pair of calipers 
and a square in fashioning it. Near by this 
was 2. celt about 2% inches long and an adze, 
both of serpentine and highly polished, but the 
edges of which were somewhat nicked; about a 
dozen arrow heads, a large spearhead of chert, 
2% by 3 inchés; 3 scrapers, 2 skinners and a 
badly broken pipe 
This was my first attempt at opening a 
mound, and the result of my find was more 
gratifying than any I made thereafter. Many 
relics are found along the banks of the river 
near that place, hut they prol ably belonged to 
a race of people who had greatly deteriorated 
in the manufacture of the implements of stone, 
as they are not nearly of such fine workman- 
ship. Ata future date I will tell of my finds 
made in Southern Oregon. 
Ep. A, SCHLOTH. 
THE WOOD-RAT. 
In Oregon the Wood-rat, is a nuisance es- 
pecially familiar to farmers, on account of its 
chronic disposition to accumulate too much 
business activity. A few years ago, on the 
Clackamas River, all the silver soup and _ tea- 
spoons, knives and forks, the treasured posses- 
ions of a family running a logger’s boarding 
shanty, disappeared one by one, followed by 
small bottles and other trifles. A neighboring 
family was accused of the theft. A logger re- 
turned one day from his work through a grove 
of tall, young firs. Looking up, he perceived 
in one of them an enormous nest. His curi- 
osity was excited and he concluded to chop it 
