Take a bit <>f flulTy cotton, press it H ; /htly together, and draw out 

 Mil-- i-iul ti form a neck. When n-lea-ed frm ji.ur grn>p thi- 

 body should be but little larger than tin- l..|\ \..n h.i\.- r-ni-. \.--l fn.in 

 I.M- tin- end .f tin- in-rk with tin- forceps HIM! in-.-rt it 

 into tin- in-c-k of tho skin, working the skin down <>n to il in 

 (.nl.-r t" avoid stretching tin- neck, until the point* of the fon-ep* ap- 

 pear in tin- month, thru hold thi-mtton thi-n- and withdraw tin- for- 

 ceps. H4. Carefully fit the cotton l,,,.ly into tin- skin. 35. I'm nn.- or 

 .-In-- in tin- incision on the belly. 30. Ascertain the sex of the 

 bird (see beyond*. . and at thi> point of intersection 



attach a label (see beyond). 88. Squeeze the wing-bones together until 

 yon feel tin- lips of your fingers im-i-t ovi-r the l)ird's back. '.'>'< 

 pare a sheet of i-otton about five inches square and as thin as you can 

 make ii ; lay tht- bird on this on its right side, the bill pointing to your 

 right hand. 40. 1'ut the left wing in placi- and dress the feat hers about 

 it. 41. Take hold of the shift of cotton, and turn the bird over in it in 

 order that you may dress the right wing. 42. Roll the bird on to its 

 U-lly. holding the wings in position with the thumb and first finger 

 of the left hand, and with the right hand bring the tips of the wing- 

 feathers into their proper place over the back. 4:{. Roll the bird back 

 on to its bai-k. the bill pointing to your right hand; take the end of 

 the >hcet of cotton farthest from yon and draw it lightly over tin- 

 bird to the side nearest you. 41. Draw the end nearest you in the 

 dire.-tion. 45. See that the feet. tail, and tips of the wings 

 are in their proper position, and place your specimen out of harm's 

 way to dry. 



It will doubtless take you from half an hour to an hour to make 

 your first birdskin. It will probably be a sorry-looking object. |*T- 

 haps minus a head or tail or half its feathers; but d<> not let this dis- 

 courage you. An expert can make ten bird>kins an hour, and you 

 need only practice to approach this. 



There are endless variations of tin- method here described. It is 

 not possible to go into further details here, and if you have taxider- 

 mic ambitions I would advise you to procure a copy of Mr. W. T. 

 Hornaday's excellent Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting (Scribner, 



cimen without a sex mark on its label in of com- 

 paratively little value. The sex in many birds can of course be dis- 



the winy-bone* In to retnore the fl*h from them, thrr nhould he pu*hd back 

 only far enoutch to fiuthle one to net* plainly t !.. i-liw or b*nd of th- wing out- 

 Me of the akin. This pr.-v.-iim the wing* from hanging, and. to further keep 

 them in place, It will be well at Orat to tie the ends of the bone* (burner!) to- 



f-ll.T 



