Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting / A Complete Handbook for the Amateur Taxidermist, Collector, Osteologist, Museum-Builder, Sportsman, and Traveller

by William T. Hornaday; W. J. Holland

Now take a needle and thread, begin at the upper end of the opening in the bird—on the breast,—and with careful fingers sew the skin together without tearing it or catching the feathers fast. Fill in a little tow, if necessary, as you proceed, but not enough to fill the skin hard and full, and when you reach the lower end of the cut draw the skin of the tail sharply forward for half an inch to take up what it has lengthened by stretching, and sew it fast by several long cross-stitches. At the last moment fill in a little more tow at the base of the tail, sew up the opening, and cut off the thread. The most difficult part of the whole operation is now before us. It now remains to put the specimen on a perch, pin the wings fast to the body, adjust the feathers and wind them down, stuff the head, pin the tail, and put in the eyes.

With a piece of pine board four inches square, and two round pine sticks, each about three inches long, make a rough T perch, similar to the one standing vacant on the table in Plate XII. The cross-piece should not be too large for the bird's feet to grasp comfortably. With a small gimlet, or awl, bore two holes in the cross-bar, on a slant, about an inch apart, run the leg-wires through them, perch the bird naturally, and twist the wires together once underneath, to hold it firmly. Study a living bird or a good picture, and give your specimen a correct and natural attitude.

Cut a piece of wire five inches long, sharpen one end, bend it into a T shape, as in Fig. 50, and run the sharp end through the base of the tail underneath, and on up into the body. The tail feathers are to rest on and be evenly supported by the cross part at the lower end, which may be either straight or curved, as occasion requires.

With the small forceps, plume and dress the feathers all over the bird, catching them near the root, a bunch at a time, and pulling them into place where necessary. Work them against the grain by lifting them up and letting them fall back into place. It will be a great help if you can at this stage procure a dead bird of the same kind to examine, and see precisely how the feathers lie. One such specimen will aid you more than pages of description.

It often happens that the back, breast, or side of the bird is not quite full enough at some point, or, in other words, is too hollow. Now is the time to remedy such defects. Lift the wing and cut a slit lengthwise in the skin of the body underneath it, and through this opening insert fine clipped tow wherever needed. The forceps is the best instrument to use in doing this. The opening under the wing is of great importance, for it gives you command of one entire side of the bird's body. You can by means of this hole fill out the back, breast, or shoulders, if not full enough, and make other important changes in the bird's form. There is no need to sew up the opening when you have finished, for when the wing is pinned in place it will be entirely hidden.

The wings must be fastened to the body before the feathers can be fully adjusted. Cut six small wires, each two inches long, and sharpen at one end. Let us wire the left wing first. Hold it between the left thumb and forefinger, and with the right hand push the point of one of the small wires through the angle of the wing, commonly called the shoulder. When the point is well through, hold the wing in place against the body, adjust it with great care, and when you see that the feathers of the shoulder fall properly over the angle of the wing, push the wire through into the excelsior body until it holds firmly. Push another wire through at the base of the large quills (primaries), and another through the upper part of the wing, just below where it leaves the body. These wires are well shown in Fig. 52. The wing now fits closely against the body, and the feathers fall over it smoothly, so as to completely cover the upper part of it.

Wire the other wing in the same way, taking great care that one is not placed farther ahead than the other, nor farther up or down on the body. The tips of the wings should touch each other exactly at the point. Look at your bird from all sides before finally securing the second wing.

With the wings firmly wired and the feathers nicely adjusted, we next proceed to stuff the head. With the scissors cut up some fine tow or cotton, and by inserting it through the mouth with the forceps, a pinch at a time, fill out around the back and sides of the head, the upper part of the neck and the throat. Do not fill the skin too full, and take care that both sides of the head are precisely the same shape and size. Take plenty of time and do your work nicely.

When the head has been properly filled out, fill in each eye-socket with a little soft clay or putty, insert the glass eyes, and embed them in it. Study the eyes of your dead bird, and imitate their appearance and position with those of your mounted specimen. It is a good plan to put a drop of mucilage around the inside of each eyelid and thus gum it down upon the glass eye. Be sure that the eyes are exactly opposite one another, and that one is not higher nor farther back than the other.

Fasten the mandibles together by thrusting a pin up through the lower mandible into the skull, or else by passing a pin through the upper mandible at the nostrils and tying around the bill behind it with a thread.