840 How to Mount a Bird. 



down over the angle of the jaw. Now work back the skin until you 

 can catch the tip of the bill, and, holding on by it, gently push back the 

 skin with the finger tips until the bird is right side out again. Now 

 poison the body thoroughly, either by shoveling in the dry arsenic and 

 working it into every cranny of the neck, wings, and legs, or by 

 pasting on arsenical soap.* 



Get plenty of preservative on the roots of the tail, first removing 

 the oil glands. Of course, the bird now looks a little mussy, but that 

 is soon remedied. With the forceps or knitting-needle raise the 

 feathers near the roots and let them drop into place. See that the 

 wings and legs are not twisted. Insert the needle in the eye, run it 

 between the skull and skin, and work the latter a little forward, for the 

 chances are that the skin has been dragged backward in re-turning. 

 Your bird is now skinned and lies before you ready for mounting, 

 and for this you need certain materials and tools. The materials 

 are: excelsior t for bodies, fine tow for necks and legs, and annealed 

 iron wire of various sizes. Fine hay (rowen) or coarse tow makes 

 good bodies where excelsior is not obtainable, and cotton may be 

 used as a very poor substitute for tow. The necessary tools are : flat, 

 round, and cutting pliers, a flat file, awls, a pair of eight-inch spring 

 stuffing forceps, needles, thread, and pins. There are many other 

 tools you will find handy ; and among these I would strongly recom- 

 mend a jeweler's vise having a hole running lengthwise through the 

 handle. This is a most serviceable instrument for wiring birds' legs. 

 Also, make yourself a few little pushers, by flattening one end of a 

 wire six or eight inches long and filing a few notches in it. Bend 

 the opposite end into a ring. Cut and straighten wires for the 

 legs and body, making them amply long to allow for clinching 

 and selecting wires for the legs sufficiently large to firmly support 

 the finished bird. Sharpen both ends of the body wire and one end 

 of the leg wires. The first step is to unite the wing bones with a 

 thread, so that they are a little closer than they were originally. 

 Fasten the thread to the bone toward the elbow, and not at the 



* My own method of applying the soap is as follows : After getting the skin right 

 side out, I poison the neck and wings. When the false body is inserted, I turn down the 

 skin a little and poison all around it, and finally I poison the legs just after they have 

 been wired and wrapped. Thus I lessen all chances of smearing the feathers. 



t Excelsior is fine wood shavings, and can be obtained at any upholsterer's. 



