MAKING SKINS. 
53 
causing the head to fall down. See if the tip of 
the wings are of equal length ; if not make them so 
by drawing one wing downward, and pushing the 
other up toward the head, but do not pull them 
out of place at the shoulders. Be careful that the 
wings are placed high enough on the back. This 
is easily ascertained, if the closed tips of the 
primaries lie perfectly flat on the bottom of the 
form with their inner edges nearly downward. 
Now smooth the feathers with a pair of tweezers, 
placing the feathers of the sides that come below 
the sparrow’s wing inside the wing; above this 
they will lie outside. Always bear in mind that 
although a skin can be made perfectly smooth by 
an expert in from eight to fifteen minutes, one 
who is not accustomed to the work will be obliged 
to occupy a much longer time, as a skin cannot be 
made too smooth. Arrange all spots and lines on 
the feathers as they occur in life, especially about 
the head or on the back ; in fact, too much atten- 
tion cannot be given to these details, before and 
after a skin is placed in the form, if one wishes to 
turn out a first-class specimen. 
Now bind the skin with soft cotton thread, used 
on bobbins in the mills, beginning at the lower 
portions of the wings, and winding the thread over 
