38 
FIELD OBNITHOLOGY. 
plumage ; but it is of course conspicuous on light or white feathers. Dried blood may often 
be scraped off, in imitation of the natural process by which a bird cleanses its plumage with 
the bill; or be pulverized by gently twiddling the feathers between the fingers, and then 
blown off. But feathers may by due care be ivashed almost as readily as clothing ; and we 
must ordinarily resort to this to remove all traces of blood, especially from white surfaces. If 
properly dried they do not show the operation. With a soft rag or pledget of cotton dipped in 
warm water bathe the place assiduously, pressing down pretty hard, only taking care to stroke 
the feathers the right way, so as not to crumple them, until the red color disappears ; then you 
have simply a wet place to deal with. Press gypsum on the spot ; it will cake ; flake it off 
and apply more, till it will no longer stick. Then raise the feathers on a knife-blade and 
sprinkle gypsum in among them ; pat it down and shake it up, wrestling with the spot till the 
moisture is entirely absorbed. Two other fluids of the body will give you occasional annoy- 
ance, — the juices of the alimentary canal and the eye-water. Escape of the former by mouth, 
nostrils, or vent is preventable by plugging these orifices, and its occurrence is inexcusable. 
But shot often lacerates the gullet, crop, and bowels, and though nothing may flow at the 
time, subsequent jolting or pressure in the game-bag causes the escape of fluids : a seemingly 
safe specimen may be unwrapped to show the whole belly-plumage a sodden brown mass. 
Such accidents should be treated precisely like bloodstains ; but it is to be remarked that these 
stains are not seldom indelible, traces usually persisting in white plumage at least in spite of 
our best endeavors. Eye-water, insignificant as it may appear, is often a great annoyance. 
This liquor is slightly glairy, or rather glassy, and puts a sort of sizing on the plumage difficult 
to efface ; the more so since the soiling necessarily occurs in a conspicuous place, where the 
plumage is too scanty and delicate to bear much handling. It frequently happens that a lacer- 
ated eyeball, by the elasticity of the coats, or adhesion of the lids, retains its fluid till this is 
pressed out in manipulating the parts; and recollecting how the head lies buried in plumage at 
that stage of the process, it will be seen that not only the head, but much of the neck and even 
the breast may become wetted. If the parts are extensively soaked, the specimen is almost 
irreparably damaged, if not ruined. Plaster will absorb the moisture, but much of the sizing 
may be retained on the plumage ; therefore, though the place seems simply wet, it should be 
thoroughly washed with water before the gypsum is applied. I always endeavor to prevent 
the accident; if I notice a lacerated eyeball, I extract it before skinning, in the manner 
described for woodpeckers. Miscellaneous stains, from the juices of plants, etc., may be 
received ; all such are treated on general principles. Blood on the beak and feet of rapacious 
birds, mud on the bill and legs of waders, etc., etc., may be washed off without the slightest 
difficulty. A land bird that has fallen in the water should be recovered as soon as possible, 
picked up 6?/ the hill, and shaken ; most of the water will run off, unless the plumage is com- 
pletely soaked. It should be allowed to dry just as it is, without touching the plumage, 
before being wrapped and bagged. If a bird fall in soft mud, the dirt should be scraped or 
snapped off as far as this can be done without plastering the feathers down, and the rest 
allowed to dry ; it may afterward be rubbed fine and dusted oft', when no harm will ensue, 
except to white feathers Avhicli may require washing. 
Mutilation. — You will often be troubled, early in your practice, with broken legs and 
wings, and various lacerations ; but the injury must be very severe (such as the carrying away 
of a limb, or blowing off the whole top of a head) that cannot be in great measure remedied by 
care and skill. Suppose a little bird, shot through the neck or small of the back, comes apart 
while being skinned ; you have only to remove the hinder portion, be that much or little, and 
go on with the rest as if it were the whole. If the leg bone of a smaU bird be broken near 
the heel, let it come away altogether ; it will make little if any difference. In case of the 
same accident to a large bird that ought to have the legs wrapped, whittle out a peg and stick 
