DIRECTIONS FOR STUFFING BIRDS. 27 



best preservative is arsenic; none of the many prepa- 

 rations recommended are more effective, and none are 

 so convenient. As much arsenic should be used as can 

 be made to adhere to the skin. The skin is next to be 

 turned right side out, taking care to draw the head care- 

 fully into place, and to set the bones of the wings and 

 legs in their proper position. The plumage being 

 nicely smoothed, and the whole object straightened 

 out, the specimen is ready to receive the stuffing, 

 which is to be introduced through the original incision. 

 A pellet of cotton of the size of the bird's eye should 

 be passed into the skin, and deposited in each socket; 

 over this the eyelids are to be nicely adjusted. In 

 general, no wrapping of the wing-bones is required, 

 nor is it necessary to tie the wing-bones of opposite 

 sides together inside the skin, as often directed, though 

 both of these operations may be desirable in the cases 

 of some large birds. A little cotton should be wrapped 

 around the leg-bones of large birds ; for small ones 

 this is usually unnecessary. A cylinder of cotton, 

 rather less in size than the neck of the bird, should be 

 inserted in the neck, the farther end of the cylinder 

 resting in the cavity of the skull, the other under the 

 skin of the breast. The body-stuffing of any bird up 

 to the size of a crow or hawk may be all in one mass, 

 rather firmly moulded into something like the shape of 

 the bird's trunk, but rather less in bulk. Insinuating this 

 into the skin until it fits nicely, bring the edges of the 

 original incision together, and the stuffing of the speci- 

 men is completed. It only remains to " set " the speci- 

 men in a shapely manner by folding the wings neatly, 

 adjusting the head and neck, bringing the legs to- 

 gether, and then moulding the whole object by manipu- 



