536 
FOREST AND STREAM 
November, 1917 
MOUNTING THE SPORTSMAN’S TROPHIES 
SUCCESS IN PRESERVING INTACT THE DELICATE COLOR PATTERNS OF 
BIRD SKINS IS A MATTER OF PATIENCE, PERSEVERANCE, AND PRACTICE 
By ROBERT H. ROCKWELL 
Taxidermist for the Brooklyn (N. Y. C.) Museum 
T HE sportsman or amateur naturalist 
who wishes to preserve or mount his 
game birds or other specimens is the 
type of hunter who ought to be encour¬ 
aged, and it is with this intention in mind 
that the following article is written. 
The author believes that few hunters 
will readily admit that they go gunning 
just for the amount of meat obtained in 
the day’s bag, nor will they openly confess 
to be so bloodthirsty that they love to see 
the birds drop before their guns just for 
the sake of killing. It seems that there 
must be a certain amount of admiration 
for the game itself, and if it is not 
the exterior view it is surely not the 
interior carcass that delights the eye. 
When one picks up a dead quail 
and examines its beautiful markings, 
a color pattern which nature has 
taken ages to perfect, does it not 
seem a pity that this garment of 
rich brown and sombre gray should 
be ruthlessly plucked off and cast 
aside as a thing not even worthy of 
momentary observation ? 
Without a sense of appreciation of 
the handiwork of nature the mount¬ 
ing or preserving of any bird would 
be a hopeless task, but fortunately 
quite a number of sportsmen love 
birds not for the meat that they rep¬ 
resent, but for the beautiful plumage 
which adorns their bodies. 
T HE mechanical operations in¬ 
volved in preserving a bird 
skin are easily acquired. Using 
a little patience, perseverance and 
practice success is sure to come, and 
the sportsman will find it an inter¬ 
esting pastime with the added at¬ 
traction of furnishing lasting me¬ 
mentoes of the days afield. 
With a particular specimen in 
mind, say the Bob White, we will as¬ 
sume that it has just been shot or 
is perhaps only a few hours dead. The only 
material required is a slim-bladed, keen- 
edged physician’s pocket knife, excelsior, 
cotton, cornmeal, needles and thread, ar¬ 
senic and a pair of surgeon’s tweezers. 
Begin by stuffing a small wad of cotton 
into the mouth in order to keep the blood 
from running out and soiling the plumage. 
Make an incision on the belly about three 
inches long, extending from the front edge 
of the breast bone to the vent. A shallow 
cut is better than a deep one as it is only 
necessary to cut through the outer skin. 
Proceed by lifting up the skin and sepa¬ 
rating it from the body. In most birds it 
will separate readily if the flesh is pushed 
away from the skin with the fingers or 
blunt side of the knife. 
The joint on the leg forming what is 
commonly called the knee, or correspond¬ 
ing to the second joint on the chicken, is 
severed inside the skin. 
C ARE must be exercised here not to 
cut through the delicate skin. This 
error may be avoided by holding the 
fingers under the feathers, thus acting as a 
guide to indicate the proper depth to which 
the cutting of muscle may proceed. 
finger tips forward along the back, thus 
releasing the tender tissue which holds the 
hide to the body. 
It is better to dispense with the knife at 
this point, as the fingers are more adapt¬ 
able to pushing the skin forward over the 
wing joints than any instrument. 
Sever the wing bones close to the body 
and gradually push, rather than pull, the 
skin over the skull until the base of the ears 
are exposed. These may be released from 
their cavity by gripping them tightly be¬ 
tween the finger and thumb and pulling 
them out of the sockets. 
During the whole operation of skinning 
a bird, corn meal should be constantly ap¬ 
plied. It is used mainly to keep the feath¬ 
ers from coming in contact with the blood 
or flesh of the body and answers the ad¬ 
ditional purpose of giving the operator’s 
fingers a more secure grip on the specimen. 
The tail is now held firmly between the 
index finger of the left hand and the 
thumb, thus exposing the tail vertebrae, 
which may be severed at any of its nu¬ 
merous joints. 
After the tail is disjointed and the mus¬ 
cles which held it fixed to the body sev¬ 
ered, proceed to push the skin with the 
EXT, and very important, is the 
manner in which the eyelids 
are skinned. It should be 
noted that it is well to cut the tissue 
under the eyelids from one-half to 
one inch further in the rear of the 
eyeball than your judgment dictates. 
You will then evade one of the pit- 
falls common to all beginners by not 
destroying the contour of the eyelid. 
The rest of the skinning from the 
eye on to the base of the bill is 
easily accomplished, but it is well to 
be sure that all parts are thoroughly 
skinned, the brain removed and all 
muscular tissue which clings around 
the skull scraped away. The neck 
is severed close to the skull. 
There still remains a certain 
amount of meat and muscle clinging 
to the wing and leg bones. This, of 
course, must be removed by using 
the knife first to release the skin 
where it adheres tightly to the mus¬ 
cles, and afterwards to dig and 
scrape away the flesh lying directly 
behind the large secondary feathers. 
The small remaining muscles which 
extend into the extremity of the 
wing bones can best be removed by 
making openings on the outside along 
the portion of the wing which lies 
closest to the bird’s body when the wings 
are folded. The “drumsticks” are now 
skinned as far down as the feathers grow; 
all the meat should be cleaned off these also. 
L AST but not least in the scraping 
process. The tail needs attention. The 
meat all around it, including the oil 
sacks, must be removed, but care should 
be taken not to cut any of the large quills 
which protrude through the skin. 
If the specimen in hand exhibits any 
grease or oil on the skin, it is best to pick 
and scrape this away. The bird is now in 
condition to make up into a skin. 
