386 PREPARATION OF BIRD SPECIMENS 



white, etc., and for these especially made glass bird eyes 

 should be purchased. Care should be taken that eyes of the 

 proper color are procured for each bird. 



Shot for large birds. — Hunters who merely shoot to kill 

 generally use shot of large size. The ornithologist, who desires 

 good specimens or none, will soon find that very small shot 

 will do. Even ducks, whose plumage is so abundant and close, 

 can be killed with No. 8 or No. 10 shot. The author once 

 secured a surf scoter with dust shot. Of course this was possi- 

 ble only under unusual circumstances. The bird flew from 

 under a bank in a line directly away from the author, and had 

 reached a distance of only a few feet when aimed at. 



Stretching the skin. — ■ The skin should not be stretched. In 

 skinning large birds, suspended from a hook, the weight of 

 material, if allowed to hang down upon the neck, will cause 

 the skin to lengthen, and thus distort the shape. This should 

 be carefully guarded against. Do not pull the skin from the 

 flesh, but rather press with the flngers and work with the 

 knife so that there is no stain upon the skin itself. 



Spread wings and crests. — While the bird is drying, some 

 support must be given to spreading parts, or they will droop in 

 such a way as to render the bird unsightly. Cotton, held in 

 place by wire or pins, is the best material for this purpose. 



Spreading the tail feathers. — If the tail feathers are to be 

 widely spread, or, in fact, spread at all, a piece of wire bent 

 upon itself in the form of a staple, and placed across the tail, 

 with one prong above and the other below, can be so manipu- 

 lated with the fingers as to hold the feathers in place till the 

 bird is dry. Another method is to pass a fine-pointed wire 

 through all the feathers near their bases (through the hollow 

 portion), and move each feather along this wire till its position 

 is satisfactory. A third plan is to reverse the position of 

 each feather before setting it away to dry. Bring the central 

 feather below and force each outer pair above the preceding 

 pair. After the bird is dry the feathers are snapped back into 

 their proper places. 



