METHODS IN THE AHT OF TAXIDERMY. I i j 



of the body relaxed for the same length of time it would macerate and 

 the feathers would come out. The legs of large birds must, therefore, 

 be started first in the relaxing process. 



Take, for example, the skin of a pheasant : wrap the feet and legs 

 witli 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 this can be done, put wet cloths around 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 pliable 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. Some- 

 times 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; rufTed 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 require were they five 

 years old. 



There is a mistaken idea among many taxidermists that to soften 

 a skin is all that is necessary. There is a wide difference between 

 softening a skin and relaxing it. The smallest and thinnest skins must 

 be worked and manipulated with the fingers if not with the scraper 

 until they are perfectly relaxed or pliable. The fibers of the skin 

 which have become contracted in drying must be stretched to their 

 natural proportions. This requires a tedious amount of manipulation, 

 involving the utmost patience and care. If you will carefully study 

 Plate VIII, you will discover where the patches of feathers grow. It 

 is on these tracts the scraper should be vigorously used until the 

 feathers become movable at their base, and until all parts of the skin 

 become as pliable as when it was taken from the carcass. 



When we come in contact with old dry skins of such birds as the 

 pelican, swan, eagle, etc., we must use the toothed scraper vigorously in 

 order to cut the fibre and make the skin perfectly pliable. It means 

 constant hard work for any man to mount dry skins. 



The quality of the skin however has a great deal to do with the 

 success attained in its mounting. With a good sYnx — and, I mean one 

 made by a taxidermist who knows what a good skin is — there is little 

 difficulty in obtaining satisfactory results. 



