November, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
537 
After the specimen has been turned in¬ 
side out it should be liberally dusted with 
powdered arsenic, the eye sockets filled 
with cotton, and the skin reversed to its 
former natural position. 
Cotton is now wound around the wing 
and leg bones to approximately the size of 
the muscles which formerly adhered to 
them. They are then adjusted to their nat¬ 
ural position. The wing bones are fastened 
together with a thread in such a manner 
that the knotted cord or thread limits them 
from spreading to a greater extent than 
was possible when attached to the body. 
A round stick is now cut to conform 
with the length of the neck and body which 
has been removed from the skin. This 
stick should be a trifle smaller in thickness 
than the neck, and should taper towards 
one end in order that it may fit snugly into 
the brain cavity and support the body. 
Cotton in thin sheets can now be wound 
around this stick or core until it is almost 
as large as the body and neck of the bird. 
This soft artificial core or body is usually 
made of cotton, excelsior, or any soft ma¬ 
terial except paper. 
W E will now proceed to insert the ar¬ 
tificial body with the neck into the 
skin. The tapered end is pushed 
up into the brain cavity, thus making the 
skin very rigid by extension. 
It is now only necessary to smooth down 
the feathers, adjust the wings, sew up the 
opening cut, nnd the difficult part of the 
operation is over. 
If the specimen is intended to remain as 
a skin for any great length of time the 
bill should be sewn shut with a thread and 
the whole bird dropped head first into a 
close fitting cornucopia in order to keep 
the wings together and make the feathers 
lie more smoothly. 
In the next issue of Forest and Stream 
Mr. Rockwell’s article will contain 
special instructions for mounting quail, 
illustrated with several diagrams. We 
wish to call attention to the offer on 
page 562 of this issue, whereby our 
readers may obtain a physician’s knife 
with a blade of razor steel, suitable for 
the amateur taxidermist. 
A FEATHERED BEAUTY 
The quezal of Guatamala is considered 
the most beautiful bird in the world. Its 
plumage vies with the rainbow and shines 
with a metallic luster. Until within the 
last few years it was unknown to science, 
mainly owing to the fact that it is a her¬ 
mit among the feathered creatures, de¬ 
lighting in the silence of high altitudes. 
It dwells on mountain heights above 7,000 
feet in elevation. The quezal was the 
royal bird of the Aztecs, and its plumes 
were used to decorate the headdresses and 
cloaks of the kings of that land. Its breast 
is a brilliant scarlet, while its green tail 
attains a length of three feet. It is about 
the size of the common pigeon. It nests in 
holes in rotten trees, which it enlarges 
with its bill, so as to make a roomy and 
comfortable residence. The young are 
hatched totally devoid of feathers. 
HOW I GOT THE “MOVIE” 
OF MRS. QUAIL AT HOME 
By GUY W. VON SCHRILTZ 
B Y the merest chance I came upon 
the mother quail on her nest con¬ 
cealed among the grass. Quick¬ 
ly focusing my camera, I made an 
exposure, then changed my distance 
to six feet, approaching a few inches 
at a step, and pressed the bulb again. 
To insure against accidents, I 
snapped an extra one. 
The quail did not seem to be 
greatly frightened. Her head drawn 
in and turned slightly to one side, 
she gazed with perfect calmness 
upon us human intruders in her 
sanctum. Encouraged by her indif¬ 
ference, I advanced inch by inch to 
within four feet of the nest and 
secured a close-up of the mother 
bird at home. 
We wondered at the quail’s ab¬ 
sence of fear.—I have several times 
come upon the nest of a quail, but 
have, never seen the equal of this 
one for indifference to intruders. 
For she seemed much less disturbed 
than the average setting hen would. 
As we were standing there watch¬ 
ing her, Bill picked up a stick and, 
thrusting it nearer and nearer to the 
quail, found that she would not 
leave the nest even when the stick 
touched her. So pushing her back 
gently with the stick, he was able to 
raise her partly from the nest while 
I made another exposure.—The fin¬ 
ished picture discloses one of the 
eggs. 
Just as Bill removed the stick, a 
grass-hopper sprang from the grass 
that formed her nest and alighted 
upon the quail’s head. The photo¬ 
graph which I eagerly took is per¬ 
haps unlike any other in existence. 
After several minutes of such mo¬ 
lestation from Bill and myself—we 
had used all of our films save one— 
the old bird calmly arose from the 
nest and .dignifiedly walked away, 
while I made a last exposure of her 
vacated nest and eggs. 
