18 ORNITHOLOGICAL AND OOLOOIGAL COLLECTING. 



of the neck around a piece of wire, anchor It In the skull cavity and fofm the body- 

 filling around it. All long-necked birds should be treated in this manner, no matter- 

 how you place the neck. It will often prevent them from becoming broken oft. 

 The opening in all large skins should be neatly sewn up. All skins prepared for the 

 cabinet and all specimens mounted should have a label attached tO' the legs giving 

 the species, sex, locality, date of collection, etc. In many adult birdsi the sex can be 

 determined by the color of the plumage. In most cases the body should be examined 

 to make sure of the sex of the specimen. The testes of the male and the ovaries of 

 the female lie in the same position in the small of the back; close to the kidneys, and 

 may easily be reached by cutting through the wall of the abdomen on one side and 

 pushing the intestines out of the way. The testes of the male are a pair of yellowish 

 bodies lying close together. The ovary is a mass of small spheres. In the breeding 

 season both these organs are subject to such enlargement that they become very 

 conspicuous, and differ so much in appearance that they cannot be mistaken. At 

 other seasons of the year they can only be recognized upon close examination. The 

 male is denoted by the sign of Mars, the female by the sign of Venus, or the right 

 leg is crossed over the left to indicate the male, and the left over the right to denote 

 the female. 



The best method in the world for laying skins away In the cabinet is to wrap 

 them in sheet cotton batting, allowing the label to be seen when placed in the cabinet 

 drawer. When collecting in the field in remote regions you may fill the body, of the 

 skin with leaves, dry grass or paper, when tow or cotton cannot be obtained, but 

 never with wool or hair. 



It is essential for the prMervation of skins to use nothing for the filling that 

 can be attacked by insects. 



Some years ago I very nearly ruined my reputation as a taxidermist by attempt- 

 ing to mount five hundred bird skins, from the Holy Land, which were filled wlthv 

 old woolen clothing of the Arabs and the hair of quadrupeds. Upon these the moths 

 had feasted and become fat and robust. The skins and feathers had next received 

 their attention. The havoc they wrought is indescribable. 



One evening after a desperate struggle with the hundredth specimen of these 

 bunches of hides and feathers' I *as indulging in reveries of stern realities — how 

 patience will sometimes pause-^how ingenuity will stagger when invention fails-^ 

 how time as well as love's labor is sometimes lost. 



I sat in my study till the last slanting sunbeams were gilding the walls — till 

 the objects before me became indistinct in the twilight, and in fancy saw Job in 

 one corner of my workshop smiling at my impatience, and heard Shakespeare by his 

 side whispering, "What foojs these mortals be!" 



