76 TAXIDERMY, 



and introduced in the same manner ; but there are 

 some preliminary operations for unstuffing the bird, 

 and for softening the skin and feet. 



We will suppose the bird to be of the size of a 

 blackbird ; we scatter the feathers of the belly right 

 and left to discover the seam, which we rip, cut- 

 ting each stitch ; we entirely empty the body with 

 our forceps ; and by the help of an iron wire, curved 

 at the end, we unstuff the neck, turning the wire 

 slightly always the same way, and disengaging it 

 from time to time. The bird being entirely empty, 

 we place small balls of wet cotton in the eyes, wrap 

 the feet in wet linen, and leave it in this state 

 until the next day. However, as the linen and 

 cotton would dry during the night, we cover the 

 bird with a cloth which is damped only : the next 

 morning we fill the neck and body with wet linen, 

 and three or four hours after the bird will be fit to 

 mount. 



This precaution being taken, we begin by placing 

 the eyes in the same manner as in a fresh bird; 

 we stuff the neck, then a part of the body, and 

 place the irons. Those of the legs are most diffi- 

 cult to pass through, and require more time and 

 care according to the state of preservation in these 

 parts. The bird being placed on its temporary sup- 

 port, it is necessary to adjust the wings, which is 

 often impossible ; especially for the birds sent us 

 from Guyana, from the attempts of the Indiens to 



i 



