f 



CHAPTER III. 



JTecessaey Tools. 



A BAD workman, it is said, always quarrels witli liis tools. If tliis 

 be so, it is equally certain that a good workman, thougli lie may 

 make sldft with, indifferent implements of his craft, yet always 

 prefers the best and most labour-saving tools he can procure. 

 The chief point of difference, however, between the skilled and 

 unskilled workman is, that the former may and often does get 

 the best results with the fewest possible tools, while the other 

 must surround himself with dozens of unnecessary things before 

 he can " do a stroke." This being so, I propose to point out to 

 my readers in a few words, and by means of drawings, how very 

 few tools are required to skin and set up a bird or small animal. 

 My remarks will, therefore, be addressed as much to the amateur 

 as to the tyro desirous of becoming a, professional; in fact, I 

 wish it to be understood that I write as much to educate the one 

 as the other. 



The first and almost indispensable tool is the knife (I say 

 almost, because I have known a person begin and finish a small 

 bird with a pair of scissors) ; nearly any small knife will do to 

 make the first incision, but experience has shown the most useful 

 shape to be as in Fig. 11, which is the skinning knife ; the blade, 

 it will be observed, is long and narrow, 8in. to 4in. along the 

 cutting edge, and half an inch across ; the handle, which should 

 be of box, lignum vitse, or any hard wood susceptible of a high 

 polish, is 3|in, in length, exclusive of a half-inch brass ferrule ; 

 the shape shown is the most comfortable and handiest to work 

 with. rig. 12 shows a broader and stronger knife, five-eighths cf 

 an inch across, having a somewhat differently shaped hard wood 



