STUFFING. 65 



glewise also ; draw down the legs and leave them straddling 

 wide apart. Give the plumage a preliminary dressing ; if the 

 skin is free from kinks and creases, the feathers come naturally 

 into place ; particular ones that may be awry should be set 

 right, as may be generally done by stroking, or by lifting them 

 free repeatedly, and letting them fall ; if any (through care- 

 lessness) remain turned into the opening, they should be care- 

 fully picked out. Remove all traces of gypsum or arsenic 

 with the feather duster. The stuffing is to be put in through 

 the opening in the belly ; the art is to get in just enough, in 

 the right places. It would never do to push in pellets of cot- 

 ton, as you would stuff a pillow-case, till the skin is filled up ; 

 no subsequent skill in setting could remove the distortion that 

 would result. It takes just four* pieces of stuffing one for 

 each eye, one for the neck, and one for the body ; while it re- 

 quires rather less than half as much stuffing as an inexperienced 

 person might suppose. Take a shred of cotton that will make a 

 tight ball as large as the bird's eye ; stick it on the end of your 

 knitting needle, and by twirling the needle whilst the cotton is 

 confined in your finger tips, j r ou make a neat ball. Introduce 

 this through the belly-opening, into the eyesocket ; if you have 

 cut away skull enough, as already directed, it will go right in ; 

 disengage the needle with a reverse twirl, and withdraw it. 

 Take hold of the bill with one hand, and with the forceps in 

 the other, dress the eyelids neatly and naturally over the elas- 

 tic substance within. Repeat for the other eye. Take next a 

 shred of cotton that will roll into a firm cylinder rather less 

 than the size of the bird's neck. Roll it on the needle much 



* For any ordinary bird up to the size of a crow. It is often directed that the 

 leg bones and wing bones be wrapped with^cotton or tow. I should not think of 

 putting anything around the wing bones of any bird up to the size of an eagle, 

 swan or pelican. Examination of a skinned wing will show how extremely com- 

 pact it is, except just at the shoulder. What you remove will never make any dif- 

 ference from the outside, while you would almost inevitably get in too much, not 

 of the right shape, and make an awkward bulging no art would remedy ; I say, 

 then, leave the wings of all but the largest birds empty, and put in very little under 

 any circumstances. As for legs, the whole host of small perching birds need no 

 wrapping whatever; depend upon it you will make a nicer skin without wrapping. 

 But large birds and those with very muscular or otherwise prominent legs must 

 have the removal of flesh compensated for. I treat of these cases beyond. 



MANUAL. 5 



