SKINNING AND PEESERVING BIRDS. 109 



and upward, that is to say, toward the breast, push, the wire 

 right through the false body to the other side, until it conies 

 out under the wing on the side farthest from the leg. With a 

 small pair of pliers bum the point downward, pull the wire at 

 the foot, and it is thus clenched and firmly fixed ; do the same 

 with the other leg. 



Remember that if the leg wires are not firmly clenched in the 

 made body, and are not perfectly stiff and tight, all your labour 

 goes for nothing. Now bring together the skin at the lower 

 part with your fingers, and push a small wire through the root 

 of the tail up into the made body. 



Picking the bird up with one hand, bend the legs into their 

 proper position, bend the neck a little downward and backward 

 on the front, then forward and downward from the back of the 

 head. Place the leg wires through two holes bored in the cross- 

 piece of the stand, or through the natural twig, or wind them 

 round on the false twig and make them secure. Run a fine pin 

 (entomological pin, No. 2) through the shafts of the feathers 

 of the tail to cause them to dry in proper shape, then neatly 

 insert the eyes (putting a small piece of putty in the orbit 

 previously), bringing the eyelids over with a fine needle, being 

 exceedingly careful not to rip them, and not to have them too 

 staring, a very common fault with the amateur. See that the 

 ■wings are fixed in their right places with one or more pins or wires. 

 Place one pin in the centre of the breast and in the middle of 

 the back (all of these pins must be left half-way out), proceed 

 to nicely arrange the feathers in their proper places by the aid 

 of the crooked awl and feather pliers (see Fig. 19). Having 

 done this till it appears as nearly like the living bird as possible 

 (which constant practice and close attention alone will enable 

 you to do), take the " wrapping cotton," and, having made a loop 

 on one end, fix it to the pin on the back. Bring it across to the 

 pin on one of the wings, and across in a zig-zag manner to 

 the other pins in the wings, binding down the back first. Then 

 attend to the breast and under tail coverts, taking care to bind 

 down more securely than the others those feathers which will 

 start up (usually the upper wing coverts). A careful binder 

 working properly will shape his bird by binding. Tie the 

 mandibles if they are wanted closed, and cut the wire off the 



