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MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 
Section VI. : Mounting Dried Skins. — 
Soften as directed in making over dried skins, 
observing the caution given under that section, 
and have the skin very pliable. The cavities of 
the eyes may be filled from the mouth or from the 
inside of the skin. If the skin be too tender to 
turn, rasp it down by working through the orifice. 
Mount as directed in fresh specimens, but dried 
skins almost always require to be bound with 
winding cotton in order to keep the feathers in 
place. They also require rather more harder filling 
with cotton. This should be wrapped around the 
bird in as continuous a string as possible until all the 
feathers lie smoothly. They may be arranged under 
the bindings with small tweezers. Avoid binding 
too closely or too tight, and above all things bind 
evenly, that is, do not make depressions nor allow 
elevations to appear, for, as a rule, these will always 
remain after the bindings have been removed. 
Small birds should be allowed to stand at least a 
week in a dry place before the bindings are 
removed. Birds mounted from skins dry more 
quickly than from fresh specimens. Large birds 
should stand from two weeks to a month, especi- 
ally if the wings be spread. To remove the 
binding threads, cut down the back, thus taking it 
all off at once. 
