THE CLEANING OF FEATHERS 167 



The difficulties and pitfalls which surround " bird-stuffing " 

 are most amusingly told by the Rev. Henry Housman.^ 



Directly a bird is shot, the mouth and nostrils should be 

 plugged with cotton wool to prevent the flow of blood and 

 other matter, this being very important as tending to keep 

 the bird clean and preventing future trouble : so important 

 is it, indeed, that, whenever possible, it should be done in the 

 field, and, if no wool be at hand and the bird bleed much, 

 moss should be used, or even sand. 



Each bird should be wrapped in a separate piece of paper, 

 and, when practicable, another receptacle in addition to the 

 game-bag should be carried, in which birds intended to be set 

 up should be placed by themselves : an ordinary fish-basket 

 — a " bass " as it is termed — will do very nicely, and can be 

 easily carried by the attendant who carries the cartridge-bag. 

 If shooting without an attendant, however, it would be as well 

 to have a game-bag made with an outside pocket, in which the 

 specimens could be placed, and thus kept distinct from the 

 ordinary game. Otherwise, it is possible to procure at a small 

 cost, at any gunmaker's, a handy, leather-lined, tanned-canvas 

 game-bag, inside the mouth of which are attached loops of 

 cord on which discs of leather play freely, and in these loops 

 regulated by the discs, from three to six brace of partridges 

 can be suspended by the neck, whilst birds of other kinds, 

 intended for preservation, lie in the bottom of the bag, well 

 protected by paper and wadding from any drip from the game- 

 birds above. 



Cleaning Feathers from Blood and Stains 



The cleaning of a dead bird's feathers, whether from blood 

 or dirt -stains, is an all-important process, without which the 



' The Story of our Museum : showing how we formed it and what it taught us, 

 pp. 30-37. 



