Guide to Taxidermy 



83 



of a fresli bird. Tlioroughly rub the neck and head 

 witli the thumb nails, jiaying particular attention to 

 the parts that seem the hardest; dip the skin in the 

 water at frequent intervals so as to work it into 

 the skin as you rub. 



Turn the skin back to its normal position and 

 squeeze between the hands so as to get it as dry as 

 possible; do not wring it; just a simple squeeze. 

 Place the skin in a jar or deep dish containing just 

 enough naptha to cover it ; move it about for a few 

 seconds to be sure that the skin will be thoroughly 

 saturated. Leave it in the naptha for about thirty 

 minutes; the object of this bath is to remove any 

 grease that may still be iipon the skin and to render 

 it more easy to dry off. 



Remove it from the naptha and again squeeze the 

 skin as dry as you can. Unless you are working on 

 a white bird, or one with an immaculate breast, we 

 would advise vou to dry it as thoroughly as possi- 

 ble in sawdust, dusting and brushing it into the 

 feathers to absorb the moisture; then use plaster in 

 the same manner to bring the feathers out as fluffy 

 as they were on the live bird. 



White birds should not be .put in the sawdust but 



