yS MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



Section VI. : Mounting Dried Skins. — 

 Soften as directed in making over dried skins, 

 observing the caution given under that section, 

 and have the skin very pliable. The cavities of 

 the eyes may be filled from the mouth or from the 

 inside of the skin. If the skin be too tender to 

 turn, rasp it down by working through the orifice. 

 Mount as directed in fresh specimens, but dried 

 skins almost always require to be bound with 

 winding cotton in order to keep the feathers in 

 place. They also require rather more harder filling 

 with cotton. This should be wrapped around the 

 bird in as continuous a string as possible until all the 

 feathers lie smoothly. They may be arranged under 

 the bindings with small tweezers. Avoid binding 

 too closely or too tight, and above all things bind 

 evenly, that is, do not make depressions nor allow 

 elevations to appear, for, as a rule, these will always 

 remain after the bindings have been removed. 

 Small birds should be allowed to stand at least a 

 week in a dry place before the bindings are 

 removed. Birds mounted from skins dry more 

 quickly than from fresh specimens. Large birds 

 should stand from two weeks to a month, especi- 

 ally if the wings be spread. To remove the 

 binding threads, cut down the back, thus taking it 

 all off at once. 



