46 the taxidermist's guide. 



In this mode of mounting a bird there are several things which 

 must be attentively adhered to ; these are — first, not to put the 

 feathers too thick, for there is a danger of running short ; 

 secondly, all the shafts of the feathers must have a small bit cut 

 off the tip, so as to admit the cement and to give them a firmer 

 hold ; and thirdly, that the feathers should all occupy their re- 

 spective parts ; and fourthly, that they should be arranged as 

 they are in nature on these parts, as the disposition of every part 

 of the body is peculiar to itself. 



At first, this mode of setting up birds will be found a difficult 

 task, but, by a little practice and experience, it will become fa- 

 miliar and comparatively easy, although it will always be found 

 a tedious process. We have seen some specimens set up in this 

 waj r , which we could hardly detect from those mounted in the 

 ordinary manner. 



Besides what we have already said concerning the stuffing and 

 preparing of birds, there are many details connected with par- 

 ticular species wh'ch demand our attention, and which can only 

 be described as regarding that species. It will, however, be im- 

 possi la for us to enter into all these minutely, but only give a 

 few examples as general guides. We shall take these in systema- 

 tic succession. 



preservation of colors. 



In the preservation of the feathers of Birds, little else is re- 

 quired to prevent the dissipation of their colors than to keep them 

 as much as possible from air and light. These two agents, which 

 were indispensable to their beauty and perfection in a living 

 state, now exercise their influence as destroyers, and that in- 

 fluence will sooner or later work its ends according to the 

 quality, texture, or color of the object with which it is contend- 

 ing. The feathers are now deprived of two agents, which in a 

 living state contributed to their vigor and their beauty, namely, 

 the internal circulating juices which they received from the body 

 of the animal, and the external application of oil by the bill of 

 the bird, supplied from a gland which is placed over the rump of 

 all birds. 



The colors of the rapacious tribes are not so evanescent as 

 those of many others, as they, for the most part, are composed of 



