8 
MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 
on his gun. This much being decided, it at once 
occurs to the beginner, What kind of a weapon 
shall I get? Of course, muzzle-loaders are now 
out of the question ; and among the multitudes of 
breech-loaders in the market, one has only to 
consult his taste or the length of his purse. 
Therefore it is simply useless for me to recom- 
mend any particular make of gun. Good single- 
barrel breech-loaders can be bought for from nine 
dollars to twenty dollars, while double-barrels cost 
from fifteen dollars upward. For ordinary collect- 
ing, a twelve-gauge is perhaps better than any 
other, as such birds as ducks, hawks and crows 
can be readily killed with it. For warblers, 
wrens, and other small birds, however, a much 
smaller gauge gun is almost indispensable, as a 
large gun sends the shot with such force that it 
not only penetrates the body of the bird, but also 
goes out on the opposite side ; thus each shot, 
makes two holes, when one is all that is neces- 
sary to kill. This fact should then always be 
kept in mind, and as a rule load lightly, with just 
enough powder to cause the shot to penetrate well 
into the bird without going through it. In a 
twelve-gauge gun, two drachms of powder behind 
an ounce of shot is sufficient to kill a bird like a 
