22 Handbook of Taxidermy. 



ered ; afterwards shake the skin over your box 

 to remove all loose arsenic. 



Some difficulty may be experienced in getting 

 the head back into the skin. Begin in any way 

 you please until you see the point of the beak 

 coming through the feathers ; seize this with the 

 fingers, and making a cylinder of your left hand, 

 gently coax the skin backwards, with a motion 

 very much like that of milking. 



Now if you wish to make the skin neat, dress 

 every feather with the thumb and knitting- 

 needle, and see that they all lie in place. Insert 

 the knitting-needle through the eye to the top of 

 the skull (under the skin), adjust the scalp and 

 see that every feather is smooth. 



In birds with large heads— -such as owls, 

 some woodpeckers and ducks — over which 

 the neck skin will not easily slip, a slit must be 

 made along the top of the head and the skull 

 worked through, and treated as given. When 

 completed, sew up the skin and carefully ar- 

 range the feathers. 



When birds are to be mounted with spread 

 wings, as if flying, it is sometimes desirable to 



