[21] DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING BIRDS— RTDGWAY 



When ready to clean, provide a vessel of warm water and dip the 

 bloody feathers into it, working it the while with the fingers ; do 

 this in several waters until the blood is all dissolved out, then dry by 

 pressure with a towel or cheese cloth ; now, with a piece of raw cotton 

 partly saturated with turi3entine, gently wipe the wet feathers down- 

 wards, so as to leave, as it were, a thin layer of turpentine ; on this 

 place dry i^laster an inch or more thick, according to the size of the 

 bird, etc. In a few minutes replace with more plaster, and continue 

 until all the moisture is drawn from the feathers, when the plaster 

 adhering may be wiped off with raw cotton and the feathers blown 

 apart with a bellows, or by taking it to a windy place and smartly 

 striking and alternately raising the feathers, the plaster will be blown 

 away. A second application may be needed if the feathers are stained. 



This cleaning is usually done after the bird is skinned, but sometimes 

 it will be found convenient to do it before. Benzine may be used in- 

 stead of turpentine, and sometimes soap or washing compounds will be 

 found useful. 



With small dirty spots the water may be applied with a piece of raw 

 cotton, a sponge, or cloth, and the feathers gently stroked downward 

 toward the tail, parting the feathers with the left hand while the right 

 applies the water. Cotton is much the best, as when dirty it can be 

 thrown away and a new piece used. 



The essential points in cleaning a bird skin are (1) never let the blood 

 get dry on the feathers ; (2) always use the plaster immediately after 

 washing, and (3) always blow out the plaster from the feathers. At its 

 best cleaning feathers is a nasty job, but by following the above an 

 otherwise worthless bird may be made almost as good as an unsoiled 

 one. 



Roto to stuff a hird-slcin. — There is far more art in stuffing a bird-skin 

 properly than in getting the skin off the bird, a skillful taxidermist 

 being able to make a good specimen out of a skin which had been badly 

 torn or otherwise abused, while an inexperienced operator will naturally 

 make a poor specimen out of one that has been properly prepared for 

 him. The most essential of all things, in the way of material, is a good 

 quality of raw cotton, that with a long staple or fiber being necessary. 



The orbits (holes from which the eyeballs were removed) should first 

 be filled, a smoothly rounded, elastic wad being inserted in each, with 

 the smoothest and roundest side outward. This is best done while the 

 skin is reversed and the first thing after the preservative is applied. A 

 moderately comi)act, elastic roll of cotton, free from irregularities and 

 about the thickness of the natural neck, is then inserted through the 

 neck and pushed forward until the end of it can be grasped by the fin- 

 gers or a pair of forceps within the mouth, where it should be firmly held 

 until the foreceps are withdrawn, when the anterior end within the 

 mouth should be carefully j)ushed back so that when the bill is closed 



