760 



ol Practical Eajrftrermg. 



off, the neck short, the plumage neatly 

 disposed, and the whole form compact and 

 moderately full ; and I know of no more 

 effectual method for attaining these ends 

 than the following rules : Take a pledget 

 of well-drawn tow, somewhat longer than, 

 and yet proportioned to, the size of the neck 

 of the bird ; take it by one end on the neck 

 forceps, push it up into the skull, into which 

 it must be pressed as firm as possible ; and 

 the head is dressed on the point of the for- 

 ceps, and completely finished off as in the 

 case of the weasel : withdraw the forceps, 

 and push up a similar but much smaller 

 pledget into the back part of the mouth and 

 between the lower jaw : by means of these 

 the neck may be shortened at pleasure. Then 

 place a small pledget along the back ; draw 

 in the wings, adjust their position, and tie 

 them with the threads within a quarter of 

 an inch of each other, in the case of the 

 sparrow; and other birds in proportion. Bring 

 forward the tarsal, or, as it is popularly 

 termed, the knee-joint, so that it shall be 

 somewhat in advance of the root of the tail. 

 Take a good pledget and press it firmly over 

 the head of the wing-bone, and under the 

 head of the leg-bone : do the same on the 

 other side (this is an important operation, 

 and should be well done) ; add some more 

 pledgets if necessary, and bring down the 

 end of the neck-pledget and press firmly ; 

 the lesser neck-piece follows, and then it is 

 ready for sewing up. 



By attending to these directions, it will 

 be found that the body so formed is firm 

 and yet very elastic ; and it is this latter 

 property of tow that makes it superior to 

 cotton for such purposes ; yet cotton is 

 best for stuffing into the orbits, and for 

 keeping the feathers clean during the ope- 

 ration of skinning. It will be observed 

 that the bodies of birds taper away towards 

 the tail ; let this be kept in view when 

 stuffing a skin. Take a needle and strong 

 thread, and for a sparrow give three stitches 

 along each side of the incision, stitching 

 always from the inside. Draw the edges close 

 and cut the thread, leaving about two inches 

 hanging from the bird. It is quite unneces- 

 sary to fasten the thread, or even to cast a 

 knot on it, and the stitching need not come 

 lower down than the posterior margin of the 

 breast-bone. Care must be taken not to 

 entangle any feathers by the roots ; but 

 should this happen, the refractory member 

 must be pulled out, if it will not keep in its 

 proper place. Wherever the plumage is dis- 

 ordered, it should be stirred up with a pin, 

 and dressed with the fingers : if the neck has 

 been wounded by a shot, then the damaged 

 part should, if possible, be covered by giving 

 the head and neck a slight twist to one side ) 

 and when all has been adjusted to your 

 liking, take a slip of paper proportioned to 

 the size of the bird, make a suitable belt, 

 confined by a pin, and just large enough to 

 confine the wings ; put it over the skin, and 

 see that in doing so the plumage is not dis- 

 turbed. These are the dimensions of a belt 

 for a sparrow : 5J inches in length, and 2J 

 inches broad : diameter of the belt If inches. 

 Tie the legs crossing each other, the right 



uppermost if a male, the left if a female. 

 Affix a card label to the right tarsus, so that 

 it shall lie across both legs ; the generic and 

 specific name and sex should be written on 

 one side, the locality whence procured, the 

 date, and a reference to your note-book on 

 the other side. 



To ascertain the sex of a bird, make an 

 incision over the loins so as to see into the 

 abdomen ; thrust aside the intestines near 

 the backbone, and there will be exposed 

 two white glandular bodies if a male, or 

 an ovarium containing rudimentary eggs if 

 a female. Press the tail upwards and ex- 

 pand it properly, and pull out the neck 

 if it is too short ; but if too long, it cannot 

 be shortened in any way. The skin should 

 now be laid out on cotton to dry. To re- 

 move soiling matter from the plumage, wash 

 with a sponge dipped in cold rain water ; mix 

 common starch and cold water to the con- 

 sistency of thick cream, lay a coating of it 

 about Jth of an inch thick over the part to 

 be cleansed, and after the lapse of 24 hours 

 remove it with a few taps of the finger (the 

 skin should be dry before doing this) : it is 

 well adapted for cleansing old mounted spe- 

 cimens. 



Birds such as Ducks, whose heads are too 

 large to admit of the skin passing over them, 

 should have their necks severed about three 

 inches from the head ; and if the bird has a 

 black throat, then an incision sufficiently 

 large to turn out the skull must be made 

 longitudinally ; but if the upper part of the 

 neck is of a dark colour, or if the bird has a 

 crest, then the incision should be made there. 

 Sea birds having white breasts and black 

 backs should be opened down the latter, and 

 birds which are perfectly white should be 

 opened under the wing. Long-necked birds, 

 such as Herons, should be preserved with 

 the neck slightly curved, to take up less 

 room in packing. Where it is desirable to 

 pack as many birds as possible into little 

 space, the stitches may be cut, the stuffing 

 (of the body, only) extracted, and the skins 

 pressed quite flat. They may be prepared 

 for being re-stuffed by being wrapped in a 

 damp towel, till they become pliable ; and 

 this may be practised should a skin become 

 too dry before it is stuffed. Should the col- 

 lector ever be pressed for time to skin a bird 

 make the longitudinal incision, separate the 

 skin from the body as far as possible, stuffing 

 in cotton, and sprinkling powdered charcoal 

 over the abdomen, and lay it aside in a cool 

 dry situation. 



MOUNTING. 



To mount a bird's skin, prepare wires for 

 the neck and legs as for a quadruped, and 

 an artificial neck of rolled tow on its appro- 

 priate wire i take a handful of straw well 

 drawn, tie a string firmly around it so as to 

 form a standard for the insertion of the 

 wires, but considerably less than the body 

 of the bird. The wing-bones are tied at a 

 short distance from each other ; the wires 

 for the legs are run up along their posterior | 

 edge, and fixed into the standard after the i 

 neck has been properly adjusted. The ' 



