56 
MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 
to a greater or less angle. Sew up specimen 
as before ; arrange and place in a long form and 
bind. The legs of such birds as yellow-legs may 
be stitched together at the tibial joint, then bent 
toward the sides, and the toes stitched to the skin. 
In making skins of all birds where the back of 
the head is opened, the orifice should not be sewed 
up until after the wire has been inserted in the 
upper mandible, as it may be necessary to add 
more cotton through here to make the throat 
or back of the head as full as in life. Sew up this 
orifice by taking fine stitches in only the extreme 
edge of the skin, and the same caution must be 
exercised in sewing up accidental tears in the 
skin. Very tender skins may have tears mended 
by pasting tissue-paper neatly over the holes from 
the inside. In fact it is best to sew up tears 
from the inside, always using silk thread for the 
purpose. 
Section IV. : Making Skins of Herons, Ibises, 
etc. — Proceed exactly as in long-necked birds, 
but to make a compact skin lay the bird breast 
down, and turn the head and neck on the back, 
and fasten the legs to the sides. I always wire 
the necks, and for additional security, to prevent 
them being straightened by careless or inex- 
