SKINNING AND PRESERVING BIRDS. 107 



inclies of one end — forming, in fact, an artificial twig, wliicli 

 you may bend to any shape, riveting tlie unbound end through 

 a piece of wood of sufficient weight to balance the bird when 

 set up. Having, then, before you, as the first indispensable 

 adjunct, the turned stand or artificial twig (a natural one does in 

 some cases), the stuffing irons, file, crooked awl, pliers, scissors, 

 wire, tow, needle and thread, pins, and some fine darning 

 cotton, which is called " wi*apping cotton," you proceed to busi- 

 ness thus : The bird being skinned, all the flesh cleaned out, 

 and well dressed with the preservative up to the point previously 

 described — leg bones being wrapped and wings being tied — lay 

 the bird down on a clean piece of paper. 



Having selected the wire of two sizes, of a suitable thickness, 

 the thinner for the body wire and the other for the leg wires, 

 cut the three, with the aid of the pliers, a little longer than the 

 body and legs respectively, pointing each wire at one end with 

 a file — not rounding the points, but leaving them with cutting 

 edges. 



Taking up the thicker or body wire in the right hand and 

 some tow in the left, commence at about an inch from the point 

 to tightly and neatly bind on the tow in the shape of the neck, 

 and of nearly the same length that the neck was before being 

 cut ofE — that is to say, making the artificial neck somewhat 

 longer than the neck of the skin (if properly taken off and not 

 abnormally lengthened) appears to be. The reason for this is 

 that the natural neck, being carried between the clavicles forming 

 the furculum or " merry- thought," is bent downward and forward 

 between them when perching (see Fig. 22) ; hence the artificial 

 neck must imitate nature so far as that, when inserted in the skin, 

 it may be also bent forward and downward, and afterwards thrown 

 back on the body in a natural position. Of course, if a bird's neck 

 is to be represented very short, as it will be in certain attitudes, 

 the ai-tificial neck must be almost, if not quite, done away with ; 

 indeed, the shortening of the neck of the mounted specimen 

 depends almost entirely on the absence of stuffing above the 

 shoulders. Be sure, also, not to stuff the skin too wide about 

 the shoulders ; if so, the " butts " of the wings will never come 

 into place, nor allow the feathers of the breast to be brought 

 over them in a natural manner. It is exceedingly difficult to 



