Section V.: Mounting Birds for Screens, etc.—Proceed as in specimens with wings spread, but sometimes the wings should be cut off, sewed on on opposite sides, so that they may be reversed; that is, the back of the wing may be toward the breast in cases where it is desired that the back of the wings and breast should show. It is usual to stretch the wings up over the head, which emerges between them. The wings had better be kept in position with strips of pasteboard fastened together with wire. Sometimes both sides of the specimen show; or, in other instances, the back is covered with paper, silk, velvet, or other material.
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, especially if the wings be spread. To remove the binding threads, cut down the back, thus taking it all off at once.
Section VII.: Prices for Mounting Birds.—For the convenience of amateurs, who do not always know what price to put on good work, we give our price list for mounting specimens on ornamental stands. Size from humming-bird to robin, one dollar and twenty five cents; robin to wild pigeon, one dollar and fifty cents; wild pigeon to grouse, two dollars; grouse, ducks, small owls, two dollars and fifty cents; large hawks and medium-sized owls, three dollars and fifty cents; loons and large owls, five dollars; eagles, seven dollars. For birds with spread wings, add thirty-three and one-third per cent.
Section VIII.: Panel Work.—Game Pieces, etc.—Panel work is made by using only half of a specimen, the back side being turned in or removed. The specimen is mounted as usual and fastened to the picture or other design used as a back ground, by wires emerging from the side and firmly clenched in the body. Game pieces are made by simply mounting the specimen, then placing it in an attitude as if it were hanging dead. Much skill and study is required for work of this nature, for if carelessly done, it has the effect of a poor painting, but if well completed both panel and game pieces produce a pleasing effect. All such work should be usually placed behind glass, as, in fact, is true with all mounted birds, especially light-plumaged birds, which are liable to become soiled through exposure to dust. Mounted birds, not kept in moth-proof cases, should be carefully dusted at least twice a week to prevent the attacks of moths.