
64 HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. 
that would infallibly stretch the skin. Holding the bill, make 
a cylinder of your left hand and coax the skin backward with 
a sort of milking motion. It will come easily enough, until 
the final stage of getting the head back into its skull cap; this 
may require some little dexterity; but you cannot fail to get 
the head in, if you remember what you did to get it out. 
When this is fairly accomplished, you for the first time have 
the pleasure of seeing something that looks like a birdskin. 
Your next* care is to apply arsenic. Lay the skin on its back, 
the opening toward you and wide spread, so the interior is in 
view. Run the scalpel-handle into the neck to dilate that cyl- 
inder until you can see the skull; find your way to the orifices 
of the legs and wings; expose the pope’s-nose; thus you have 
not only the general skin surface, but all the points where some 
traces of flesh were left, fairly in view. Shovel in arsenic; 
dump some down the neck, making sure it reaches and plenti- ~ 
fully besprinkles the whole skull; drop a little in each wing 
hole and leg hole; leave a small pile at the root of the tail; 
strew some more over the skin at large. The simple rule is, 
put in as much arsenic as will stick anywhere. Then close 
the opening, and shake up the skin; move the head about 
by the bill; rustle the wings and move the legs; this distrib- 
utes the poison thoroughly. If you have got in more than is 
necessary, as you may judge by seeing it piled up dry, any- 
where, hold the skin with the opening downward over the poi- 
son-drawer, and give it a flip and let the superfluous powder fall 
out. Now for the ‘‘make up,’ upon which the beauty of the 
preparation depends. First get the empty skin into good 
shape. Let it lie on its back; draw it straight out to its nat- 
ural length. See that the skin of the head fits snugly; that 
the eyes, ears and jaws are in place. Expand the wings to 
make sure that the bone is in place, and fold them so that the 
quills override each other naturally ; set the tail feathers shin- 


*Some direct the poisoning to be done while the.skin is still wrong side out; 
and it may be very thoroughly effected at that stage. I wait, because the arsenic 
generally strews over the table in the operation of reversing the skin, if you use 
as much as I think advisable; and it is better to have a cavity to put it into than a 
surface to strew it on. 




