90 



Guide to Taxidermy 



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feathers smooth and the bill extending horizontally 

 in front, forming a straight line with the back and 

 tail. Never allow a bird's bill to tilt up at an angle 

 in a coinjileted skin. 



Lay your specimen carefully down upon its back, 

 then cross its legs and tie them together at the 

 point where they cross. Leave the ends of this 

 thread long enough so that you can attach a label 

 to it. 



Roll up a paper cylinder a trifle longer than your 

 specimen and of a diameter equal to that of his 

 greatest girth. (You can hold this cylinder in form 

 by tying a thread about its middle). 



Caress your bird from hand to hand again, mak- 

 ing sure that all feathers, especially those on the 

 shoulders lay smoothly, then carefully slide it into 

 the cylinder head first. Never use a paper cone in 

 making skins; it makes them hollow-chested and 

 pot-bellied, with no semblance to grace. Good skins 

 can also be made by wrapping them in thin layers 

 of cotton batting, but I think the use of cylinders 

 the most practical and certainly the specimens are 

 less liable to injury. 



