332 ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 



PRESERVING remaining part of the thigh and leg, having 

 - nothing now to support them obliquely, must 

 naturally fall to their perpendicular. Hence the 

 reason why the legs appear considerably too long. 

 To correct this, take your needle and thread, 

 fasten the end round the bone inside, and then 

 push the needle through the skin just opposite 

 to it. Look on the outside, and after finding 

 the needle amongst the feathers, tack up the 

 thigh under the wing with several strong stitches. 

 This will shorten the thigh, and render it quite 

 capable of supporting the weight of the body 

 without the help of wire. This done, take out 

 every bit of cotton, except the artificial thighs, 

 and adjust the wing bones (which are connected 

 by the thread) in the most even manner possible, 

 so that one joint does not appear to lie lower 

 than the other ; for unless they are quite equal, 

 the wings themselves will be unequal, when you 

 come to put them in their proper attitude. Here 

 then rests the shell of the poor hawk, ready to 

 receive, from your skill and judgment, the size, 

 the shape, the features and expression it had, ere 

 death, and your dissecting hand, brought it to its 

 present still and formless state. The cold hand 

 of death stamps deep its mark upon the prostrate 

 victim. When the heart ceases to beat, and the 

 blood no longer courses through the veins, the 

 features collapse, and the whole frame seems to 

 shrink within itself. If then you have formed 



