Chapter VI. 
STUFFING AND MOUNTING. 
We now come to the more difficult task of 
stuffing and mounting the specimen—the stages, in 
fact, at which a bird is either made or marred. 
There are various ways of stuffing and wiring 
birds, by which more or less_ satisfactory results 
may he obtained. The following, however, is per- 
haps the best working method, and is the one sub- 
stantially employed by most Taxidermists at the 
present day :— 
first place your skin on a clean sheet of paper, 
then with the stuffing iron, pass a small piece of tow 
up the neck to rest against the base of the skull, 
and another piece into the throat so as to form a 
continuation between the head and neck. This 
done, cut a piece of wire of a thickness proportionate 
to the size of the specimen, and about twice the 
length of the latter, and point it at one end by cut- 
ting it obliquely with the wire nippers. Next make 
an artificial body similar in size to the actual one 
which you previously laid aside to serve as. guid. 
To do this take a small quantity of shavings, and 
roll them into an egg-shaped, or elongated ball, 
which should be slightly smaller than the bird’s 
body. Pass the wire through the body, and secure 
it by bending over the blunt end and bolting it 
29 
