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PRACTICAL TAXIDERMY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



MOUNTING BIRDS WITH CLOSED WINGS. 



If a bird is soiled with blood, wash the parts in cold 

 water, and dry the plumage as much as possible with a 

 cloth or sponge. Cover the wet feathers with calcined 

 plaster, rubbing it lightly into the plumage until the 



feathers are dry 

 and assume their 

 natural appear- 

 ance. To remove 

 the plaster from 

 the plumage, vig- 

 orously beat the 

 bird with the wing 

 of a fowl or a 

 brush-broom. Re- 

 move the body in 

 the same manner 

 as when prepar- 

 ] iug a skin. Roll 

 up a small ball of 

 tow and crowd it 

 tightly into the 

 skull. Wind tow 

 I around a wire, 

 pointed at both 

 r ends, until it be- 

 comes about the 

 length and size of 

 a natural neck, leaving both ends sufficiently uncovered 

 to clinch through the skull and body. Fasten the tow 

 with thread or string, to keep it tight and in proper form. 



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GREBE CORRECTLY MOUNTED. 



