MAKING SKINS. 53 



causing the head to fall down. See if the tip of 

 the wings are of equal length ; if not make them so 

 by drawing one wing downward, and pushing the 

 other up toward the head, but do not pull them 

 out of place at the shoulders. Be careful that the 

 wings are placed high enough on the back. This 

 is easily ascertained, if the closed tips of the 

 primaries lie perfectly flat on the bottom of the 

 form with their inner edges nearly downward. 

 Now smooth the feathers with a pair of tweezers, 

 placing the feathers of the sides that come below 

 the sparrow's wing inside the wing ; above this 

 they will lie outside. Always bear in mind that 

 although a skin can be made perfectly smooth by 

 an expert in from eight to fifteen minutes, one 

 who is not accustomed to the work will be obliged 

 to occupy a much longer time, as a skin cannot be 

 made too smooth. Arrange all spots and lines on 

 the feathers as they occur in life, especially about 

 the head or on the back ; in fact, too much atten- 

 tion cannot be given to these details, before and 

 after a skin is placed in the form, if one wishes to 

 turn out a first-class specimen. 



Now bind the skin with soft cotton thread, used 

 on bobbins in the mills, beginning at the lower 

 portions of the wings, and winding the thread over 



