ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 



procured if possible ; for the loss of feathers can seldom 

 be made good ; and where the deficiency is great, all the 

 skill of the artist will avail him little in his attempt to 

 conceal the defect ; because, in order to hide it, he must 

 contract the skin, bring down the upper feathers, and 

 shove in the lower ones, which would throw all the 

 surrounding parts into contorsion. 



You will also observe that the whole of the skin does 

 not produce feathers, and that it is very tender where the 

 feathers do not grow. The bare parts are admirably 

 formed for expansion about the throat and stomach ; and 

 they fit hito the different cavities of the body at the 

 wings, shoulders, rump, and thighs, with wonderful exact- 

 ness ; so that, in stuffing the bird, if you make an even 

 rotund surface of the skin, where these cavities existed, 

 in lieu of re-forming them, all symmetry, order, and 

 proportion, are lost for ever. 



You must lay it down as an absolute rule, that the bird 

 is to be entirely skinned, otherwise you can never succeed 

 in forming a true and pleasing specimen. 



You will allow this to be just, after reflecting a mo- 

 ment on the nature of the fleshy parts and tendons, 

 which are often left in : 1st, they require to be well seasoned 

 with aromatic spices ; 2dly, they must be put into the 

 oven to dry ; 3dly, the heat of the fire and the natural 

 tendency all cured flesh has to shrink, and become hard, 

 render the specimen withered, distorted, and too small ; 



