ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 265 



In stuffing, you require cotton, a needle and thread, 



a little stick, the size of a common knitting- 

 stuffing. 



needle, glass eyes, a solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate, and any kind of a common temporary box to 

 hold the specimen. These also may go under the same 

 denomination as the former. But if you wish to excel 

 in the art, if you wish to be in ornithology what Angelo 

 was in sculpture, you must apply to profound study, 

 and your own genius to assist you. And these may be 

 called the scientific requisites. 



You must have a complete knowledge of 



Requisite to 



have a thorough ornithological anatomy. You must pav close 



knowledge of j r * 



ornithological attention to the form and attitude of the 



Anatomy. n . 



bird, and know exactly the proportion each 

 curve, or extension, or contraction, or expansion of any 

 particular part bears to the rest of the body. In a 

 word, you must possess Promethean boldness, and bring 

 down fire, and animation, as it were, into your pre- 

 served specimen. 



Repair to the haunts of birds, on plains and moun- 

 Examinethe tains, forests, swamps, and lakes, and give 

 th^orders'of U P y our time to examine the economy of 

 the different orders of birds. 



Then you will place your eagle, in attitude command- 

 ing, the same as Nelson stood in, in the day of battle, 

 on the Victory's quarter-deck. Your pie will seem 

 crafty, and just ready to take flight, as though fearful 

 of being surprised in some mischievous plunder. Your 

 sparrow will retain its wonted pertness, by means of 

 placing his tail a little elevated, and giving a moderate 

 arch to the neck. Your vulture will show his sluggish 

 habits, by having his body nearly parallel to the earth ; 

 his wings somewhat drooping, and their extremities 



