76 THREE KINGDOMS. 



The skin is now inside out. Power with arsenic, or 

 soap with arsenic soap, turn it right side out, smooth the 

 plumage, set the bones of legs and wings into proper po- 

 sition, and the bird is ready for stuffing. A pellet of cot- 

 ton, as large as the bird's eye, should "be passed into the 

 skin, and pressed into each socket. Over this adjust the 

 eyelids. Wrap a little cotton around the leg-bones of 

 large birds. Insert a cylinder of cotton, rather smaller 

 than the neck, into the neck. Mould the body-stuffing 

 into a mass, rather smaller than the bird's body. Bring 

 the edges of the skin nicely together over this, and the 

 stuffing is completed. Fold the wings neatly, adjust the 

 head and neck, bring the feet together, and press the 

 bird into the proper shape. The usual fault is too much 

 stuffing, especially between the shoulders. For mount- 

 ing specimens some knowledge of comparative anatomy 

 is desirable. The habits of each bird must be carefully 

 studied, as well as its peculiar manner of sitting, stand- 

 ing, holding the head, etc. The art of taxidermy should 

 be carefully studied from such manuals as Swainson's. 

 Brown's, or Sylvester's. Captain Brown's book is pub- 

 lished at $1.50, by G. P. Putnam's Sons, of New York. It 

 is still better to secure a few practical lessons from a gcod 



taxidermist. 



EGG-COLLECTING. 



Hardly any other branch of natural history is so 

 liable to abuse as that pertaining to the eggs of birds. 

 There is something fascinating about the search for 

 them. The artful devices of the nest-builders to hide 

 their fragile buildings in sequestered places, as if to chal- 

 lenge the acuteness, alertness, and agility of boys; the in- 

 teresting structure of the nests; and the rare beauty of 

 theeggs themselves; have always proved stronger tempta- 

 tions to idle plunder than the average youth can resist. 



