HOW TO SOFTEN DRY SKINS. I03 



and wrap them round the leg and foot until it is covered with sev- 

 eral thicknesses of the wet cloth, quite to the ends of the toes. Lift 

 up the wing and put two or three thicknesses of wet cloth round 

 the joint, and also between the wing and the body. Put some wet 

 cotton or small rags inside the skin, wrap the whole skin com- 

 pletely in several thicknesses of cloth and lay it aside. If the bird 

 is not larger than a robin, the skin will be soft enough to mount 

 in about twelve or fourteen hours. 



Under the head oilaige bitds^ it is necessary to place all birds 

 above the size of the Robin, for the reason that the legs, being 

 large and thick in comparison with the skin of ihe body, require 

 extra treatment. The legs of some birds require several days' 

 soaking, and were the skin of the body relaxed for the same length 

 of time it would macerate and the feathers fall off. The legs of 

 large birds must, therefore, be started first in the relaxing process. 



Take, for example, the skin of a Pheasant : cover the nails and 

 beak with wax, if the skin is an old one, or else they will flake off; 

 wrap the feet and legs with wet cloths as described above, and let 

 the skin lie without other wrapping for one day. At the end of 

 this time the joints can be bent somewhat, and they should be 

 manipulated until they bend easily. When they will do this, put 

 wet cloihs round the joints of the wings — in the body, neck and 

 head, and wrap the whole skin in a wet cloth. At the end of the 

 second day the entire skin will be soft. The next step is to scrape 

 all the hard parts of the skin and manipulate it until it is as soft as 

 when fresh. 



This process applies, with slight modifications, to all large bird 

 skins, but the larger the bird, the longer it will take to relax* 

 Sometimes the wings require soaking half as long as the legs in a 

 very large bird. 



By the above process, skins may be softened and made ready to 

 mount according to their size, about as follows : Wren to Robin, 

 in twelve to fourteen hours; Ruffed Grouse, two days; Great Blue 

 Heron, three days; Bald Eagle, four days; Skins which are but a 

 few months old will soften in about half the time they would re- 

 quire were they five years old, and if properly made in the first 

 place will make as handsome mounted specimens as the fresh skins* 



