SKI2JNING. 35 



always to take the stitch from inside, otherwise you will draw in 

 the feathers at every pull. At first sew it very loose, and then, 

 with the button-hook, draw it together by degrees. 



With the plyers cut two lengths of wire, long enough to pass 

 up the legs and into the neck, and leave something over to fasten 

 the bird by to the board or spray upon wiiich it is to be placed. 

 The next operation requires some address and great practice, 

 namely, the passing the wire up the legs. This is done by forcing 

 it into the centre of the foot, and up the back of the legs, into the 

 hemp body, through it obliquely, and into the neck, until it is 

 pretty firm. In doing this, you must remember the ordinary 

 position of a bird when alive, and, therefore, instead of passing 

 the wire the whole way within the skin of the leg, when you get 

 to the part where you have cut off the bone, that is, the knee- 

 joint, pass it through the skin to the outside, and in again, 

 through the skin, from the outside, where the knee would come 

 naturally in the attitude of standing or perching — it makes little 

 difference which. This is essential, because, if the wire be 

 passed the whole way inside the skin, it produces a wrong 

 placing of the legs. Fig. 13 will illustrate this, a repre- 



Fig\ 13. 



senting the line in which the wire should run. The bird is 

 now stuffed, and you may at once place it upon a spray or board, 

 as the case may be. In placing a bird upon a spray, the first 

 joint should be bent almost on a level with the foot ; and, in 

 placing a bird on a board, one leg should be placed somewhat be- 

 hind the other. If the wings are intended to be closed, as is usu- 



