^2 



ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 



Preserving Prcss the feathers dowii. The skin will adhere no more 



Birds. 



to the bone, and they will cease to rise. 



Every now and then touch and retouch all the different 

 parts of the features, in order to render them distinct 

 and visible, correcting at the same time any harshness, 

 or unnatural risings, or sinkings, flatness, or rotundity. 

 This is putting the last finishing hand to it. 



In three or four days the feet lose their natural elas- 

 ticity, and the knees begin to stiffen. When you observe 

 this, it is time to give the legs any angle you wish, and 

 arrange the toes for a standing position, or curve them to 

 your finger. If you wish to set the bird on a branch, 

 bore a little hole under each foot, a little way up the leg; 

 and having fixed two proportional spikes on the branch, 

 you can, in a moment, transfer the bird from your finger 

 to it, and from it to your finger, at pleasure. 



When the bird is quite dry, pull the thread out of the 

 knees, take away the needle, &c., from under the bill, 

 and all is done. In lieu of being stiff with wires, the 

 cotton will have given a considerable elasticity to every 

 part of your bird ; so that, when perching on your finger, 

 if you press it down with the other hand, it will rise again. 

 You need not fear that your hawk will alter, or its colours 

 fade. The alcohol has introduced the sublimate into 

 every part and pore of the skin, quite to the roots of the 

 feathers. Its use is twofold. 1st. It has totally pre- 

 vented all tendency to putrefaction ; and thus a sound 



