CHAPTER XXX. 



SOME HINTS ON TAXIDERMY. THE ART OF OBTAINING AND 

 PRESERVING THE SKINS OF BIRDS. 



It is often very important that the Sportsman should know 

 something in reference to the art of preserving and setting up 

 the Game that he loves so much to pursue, for he may at any 

 time, when a long distance from home and far away from help, 

 come across some curious specimen, a rara avis — a White Par- 

 tridge, a Pied Woodcock, or a Mottled Snipe, for example — the 

 preservation of which, for a place in his cabinet, Avould be a 

 source of great satisfaction as well as pride. All this can be 

 accomplished without any difficulty, provided the Sportsman 

 makes himself familiar with the very simple modus operandi of 

 skinning a Bird, and the best plan of preserving the skin sweet 

 till it is placed in the hands of an artist more competent to 

 finish the undertaking. 



The principal and most important object to be attained in the 

 preservation of a specimen, after we have shot it, is the pro- 

 tection of its plumage. This is done by pursuing the following 

 course : If the Bird is not shot entirely dead, the best and 

 easiest plan to relieve it from its sufi'erings, as well as prevent 



