SETTING THE SKIN. 67 
matter of the shoulders; the whole knack of stuffing correctly 
focusses just over the shoulders. If you find you have made 
the body too large, pull it out and make a smaller one; if it 
fits nicely about the shoulders but is too long to go in, or 
too puffy over the belly, let it stay, and pick away shreds at 
the open end till the redundancy is remedied. Your bird is 
now stuffed. Close the opening by bringing the edges of the 
original cut together. There is no use of sewing* up the cut, 
for a small bird; if the stuffing is correct, the feathers will 
hide the opening, and if they do not, it isno matter. You are 
not making an object for a show case, but for a naturalist’s 
cabinet. Supposing you to have been so far successful, little 
remains to be done; the skin already looks very much like a 
dead bird; you have only to give the finishing touches, and 
“set” it. Fixing the wings nicely is a great point. Fold 
each wing closely; see that the carpal bend is well defined, 
that the coverts show their several oblique rows perfectly, that 
all the quills override each other like shingles. ‘luck the 
folded wings close up to the body —rather on the bird’s back 
than along its sides; see that the wing tips meet over the tail 
(under the tail as the bird lies on its back); let the carpal 
angle nestle in the plumage ; have the shoulders close together, 
so-+that the interscapulars shingle over the scapulars. If the 
wing be pressed in too tightly, the scapulars will rise up on 
end; there must be neither furrow nor ridge about the inser- 
tion of the wings ; every thing must lie perfectly smooth. At 
this stage of the process, I generally lift up the skin gingerly, 
and let it slip head first through one hand after the other, press- 
ing here or there to correct a deformity, or uniformly, to make 
the whole skin compact. The wings set, next bring the legs 
together, so that the bones within the skin lie parallel with 
each other; bend the heel-joint a little, to let the tarsi cross 
each other about their middle; lay them sidewise on the tail, 

* But sew it up, if you please, though you may be perhaps giving the man who 
subsequently mounts the bird the trouble of ripping out the stitches. Stitches 
however, will not come amiss with alarge bird. I generally, in such cases, pin the 
edges of the cut in one or more places. 
