HOW TO CLEAK SOILED BIRD SKINS. 
81 
feathers, and they are so greasy and dirty that it will require a 
quart of turpentine and a peck of plaster, the work necessary to 
make it clean and white is very great, and what is a swan if not 
pure and white ? 
Before using the turpentine it is well to moisten the feathei’S 
with a sponge dipped in water, as then the turpentine seems to 
be more efficacious. Under no circumstances use water without 
afterwards using turpentine, for without it the plaster will harden 
quickly, and it will be quite impossible to remove it, and further 
than this, the feathers are likely to have a stringy appearance 
when dry. 
Now, we must speak of blood stains. This is a thorn in the 
side of every taxidermist that is not easily removed. It is quite 
impossible to do away with these stains in some cases. Water 
has not the slightest effect upon blood. I have taken a hardened 
or clotted piece of blood, the size of a grain of wheat, and en- 
deavored to dissolve it in water without effect. Sugar added to 
water is said to remove these stains if not too strongly set ; 1 
have tried it, but with poor success. If the specimen is valuable 
and badly disfigured by blood stains, I usuall}^ pull out the stained 
feathers, and replace with others taken from the same bird. By 
this method both time and bird are saved. Griycerine sometimes 
acts upon the stains, and by afterwards soaking in water for some 
time they can be removed. 
The results in this direction are generally unsatisfactory at 
best. Future experiments will be desirable. If the blood is 
washed off inside of forty-eight hours after the specimens are 
killed, the stains are not resistant. Ten or fifteen minutes’ work, 
however, when the specimen is first killed, will often save two 
hours’ hard work later. 
Experience and practice will teach a novice how much hard 
treatment a specimen will stand. If the feathers are inclined to 
come out,* before the specimen is ready to turpentine and plaster, 
it may be advisable to mount the bird, and allow it to partly dry 
before cleaning, and, if very bad, it is best to mount the bird 
and let it thoroughly dry, and then clean ; but this course is nec- 
essary only in extreme cases, and they do not often occur. 
This treatment of birds is one I have constantly used for a 
