Guide to Taxidermy 





Making the Skin 



See to it that the feathers of your bird all lie 

 smoothly in their proper places^ picking them into 

 position with the tweezers. Stretch each wing and 

 allow it to fold back again, making sure that all 

 the feathers properly oA^erlap. Inserting your 

 tweezer points between the eyelids slightly pull the 

 cotton, with wliich you have filled the skull, out so 

 tliat it M'ill liold the eyelids in a natural and round 

 position. 



In making up birds up to the size of a Blue Jay, 

 the wing bones may or may not be tied together as 

 you wish, but on birds larger than this, it is poor 

 practice not to do so. For our part, we always tie 

 the wing bones together even in making a hu7.n- 

 mingbird skin; it makes the skin stronger and also 

 insures that the feathers between the shoulders will 

 lie naturally and smoothly. Tie the two wing 

 bones together, inside the skin, so that tl.e shoulder 

 joints will be a little closer together than they were 

 in the specimen before it was skinned. 



For a cabinet specimen, one that will in all prob- 

 ability always remain as a skin, it is best prac- 

 tice to make them with a splinter of wood or a wire 



