Well, here we are at last. Please turn the key in that door—to keep all inquisitive priers out—for the process into which I am about to initiate you is something of a secret, shrouded by the thin veil of mystery.

You have come to me to-day to learn something of the art of Taxidermy, so we will take up, for your first lesson, bird skinning and mounting. But first let us see what

TOOLS

we shall need to accomplish our end: a pair of good sharp scissors—surgical scissors, with long handles and short, stout blades are the best; a knife or scalpel; a pair of spring forceps; a common knitting-needle; a rabbit's foot, which should be cut off at the knee, the nails cut out, and thoroughly cleansed and dried,—used for smoothing and dusting the feathers of birds after mounting; a fishing-hook, with stout cord attached, for suspending the bodies of birds that would otherwise be too large to handle conveniently.

On the whole, I would advise you to get at the start a common dissecting-case, which will contain all of the above, and besides being convenient, may save you much delay and vexation.

You will need a pair of stout wire cutters; a flat file; a pair of wire twisters or forceps; plenty of pins; thread and needles,—surgical or saddlers' needles, as they are called, are the best, as they cut instead of punching the skin; a brain scoop, made by twisting a bit of wire into a loop; and a bobbin of thread, which you can procure at any cotton factory. You should also have on hand an assortment of annealed wire; glass eyes of various sizes and colors; tack nails; brads; a piece of putty; sealing and bees-wax; paints; glue; artificial leaves; mosses; everlasting flowers, etc., for ornamenting perches.

Now we come to the

MATERIALS

required for stuffing. Cotton, tow, soft hay and excelsior are the best, but anything soft will do, except feathers, hair, or in fact any animal substance, as they act merely as assistants to the taxidermist's great enemies—the bugs (TineidÆ and DermestidÆ).

POISON

is used to preserve the skins. But as everything of that description is dangerous for young and inexperienced persons to handle, I strongly recommend the following preparation, and guarantee it to preserve their first efforts until they become an eye-sore, and are finally thrown into the fire with much disgust.

I.

Pulverized Alum.
Common Salt. Equal parts.
Mix.
Label: Salt and Alum.

The best and only safe preparation is:—

II.

Arsenic.
Pulverized Alum. Equal parts.
Mix.
Label: Poison!!

The arsenic is to poison, and the alum to act as an astringent, especially in setting the feathers and fur of skins partially decayed. As arsenic is an irritant poison, great care should be taken while using. See that the hands are free from all scratches, cuts, hang-nails, and broken skin. These may be covered with court-plaster or collodium. Wash the hands immediately after using, and be careful to clean well under the nails. With these precautions there is little or no danger, and it may be used with the greatest impunity. Avoid all so-called "arsenical soaps," as they are both dangerous and disagreeable to handle. Use nothing but the above receipts, and you will succeed far better. Having all these materials and implements at hand, we are now prepared to go on with our work.

LABELLING.

Let us take this Blue Jay for your first attempt. The first thing to be done is to measure and label it—and, by the way, never neglect this, for a bird without its label in a collection, is like a ship at sea without its rudder. Length.—Lay the bird on its back, and with a pair of dividers (for a large bird a tape line must be used) measure from the tip of the beak (the head lying flat on the table) to the tip of the tail. Place the points of the dividers on a rule that is divided into one-hundredths of an inch, and see how much they measure. Extent.—Place the bird across the ruler, and using reasonable force, stretch the wings out, and see how far they reach. Length of Tail.—Place one point of the dividers at the end of the "pope's nose," and open them until the other is at the tip of the longest tail feather. The Tarsus.—Place one point of the dividers at the middle of the sole of the foot, and measure as far as the first joint. The Beak.—Place one point of the dividers at the beginning of the cere, on the upper mandible, and open them until the other is at the tip of the beak. In addition to these I advise you to keep the weight of each specimen, especially in the case of game birds. Set all these measurements, etc., down on your label as you go along; also color of eye, contents of stomach (after skinning), and the number of the bird. This number must correspond to a number in your Ornithological Ledger—a book in which you should keep an account of each day's doings; the number of birds killed, the number used, attitudes, etc., and whatever else may be of interest to you regarding the day's shooting.

BLOOD STAINS.

These may be removed before skinning, by gently washing with a sponge and a little water, and afterwards dried by working into the feathers pulverized plaster of Paris, or potato starch, until the water is all absorbed, and the feathers become dry and clean; then shake all plaster or starch from the feathers. Now fill the beak, anus, and shot holes, if you have not previously done so,[A] with cotton, and we are ready to begin

SKINNING.

Lay the bird on its back, its head towards your right hand, and run the handle of your scalpel from the sternum, or breast bone, to the anus. In so doing you will see there is a little naked place, in many birds, all the way down. Stroke the feathers away right and left, leaving this bare, and inserting the point of the scissors at the end of the sternum, cut down to and into the anus (taking care not to cut through the thin belly walls; if this is done, fill the place with cotton, or disembowel); stopping here, as this makes a good strong termination that will not easily tear. Take the forceps in the right hand, and seize one edge of the skin. Holding this, press and push (never pull) the skin from the sides and belly walls. Care must be taken that the feathers do not get into the cut and thus become soiled. Keep stroking them away, right and left, and place a little fluff of cotton, tissue paper, or white pine sawdust, under them. After skinning away, you will come to a hard substance; this is the thigh. Skin carefully around this until you come to the under side, when you can easily insert your scissors and sever it from the body. Push the leg up out of the skin until you come to the tarsus; clear away all muscles and tendons, and bring the legs back into its skin again. Repeat this process on the other side without turning the bird around. Now skin carefully around the tail; place your forefinger across this, and pressing it back a little, insert the scissors and sever the stump. Great care must be taken, however, not to cut the thin and very tender skin over the tail.

Now turn the bird up, and with its belly pointing toward you, let the tail fall over the forefinger of your right hand, and with your thumb nail and fingers, continue to push and work the skin until you come to the wings; sever these at the shoulder.

Now holding the skin in the left hand, and letting the body fall over the other side of the fingers, skin down the neck—which will slip out as easily as a finger from a glove—until you come to the base of the skull. Skin carefully over this, taking great care to detach the thin membrane of the ear, with the thumb-nail or scalpel handle, and proceed until you come to the front part of the eye socket. Cut the thin membrane that covers the eye, taking care not to lacerate the ball; then scoop out the eyes. Stick one point of the scissors just inside one branch of the lower jaw, and make a cut parallel with the jaw, crushing through the skull just outside the angle of the jaw. Make a duplicate cut on the other side. Then at the end of these make a transverse cut through the roof of the mouth.

Connect the posterior ends of the side cuts by cutting across the skull near its base. You have now cut out a square-shaped piece of bone and muscle, and by pulling gently on the neck, this will come out, bringing with it a mass of brain. Remove all brain and muscles of the head. Skin down the wings as far as they will go, and run the thumb-nail along the ulna, detaching the quills to the metacarpal bones; remove all muscles and tendons. Now turn the skin and shovel in arsenic, so that all parts may be covered; afterwards shake the skin over your box to remove all loose arsenic.

Some difficulty may be experienced in getting the head back into the skin. Begin in any way you please until you see the point of the beak coming through the feathers; seize this with the fingers, and making a cylinder of your left hand, gently coax the skin backwards, with a motion very much like that of milking.

Now if you wish to make the skin neat, dress every feather with the thumb and knitting-needle, and see that they all lie in place. Insert the knitting-needle through the eye to the top of the skull (under the skin), adjust the scalp and see that every feather is smooth.

In birds with large heads—such as owls, some woodpeckers and ducks—over which the neck skin will not easily slip, a slit must be made along the top of the head and the skull worked through, and treated as given. When completed, sew up the skin and carefully arrange the feathers.

When birds are to be mounted with spread wings, as if flying, it is sometimes desirable to make the incision along the back instead of the belly, the ventral feathers thus presenting a smoother appearance.

MAKING A SKIN.

After a skin has been poisoned and dressed, it may be "made" by inserting into each eye-socket, through the neck, with the knitting-needle, a little ball of cotton. Then make a little roll of cotton and insert it into the neck; one end in the cavity of the skull, the other just appearing at the end of the neck. Some collectors at this point fasten the wings to the sides, by taking a stitch through them with needle and thread. Before doing this, be sure that the wings are in the right place. Take a piece of cotton about one-half the size of the bird's body, and by turning in the edges make it into an oblong ball, corresponding to the body just removed. Place this in the skin with the forceps, and before letting go with the thumb and forefinger press the wings together on the back, placing the fingers under the wings. Now draw the edges of the skin together, and making a cylinder of each hand, gently coax the skin through, until it is of the required shape. Then place it in a drying-rack, made by bending a piece of zinc or tin into a half cylinder. Leave it to dry for a few days. Many collectors never mount birds, but prefer "made skins." These may be relaxed at any time by wrapping in damp cotton for a few days, and then set up as directed.

SEX

May be determined by cutting through the ribs under the right wing, and pushing away the intestines. There, bound to the small of the back, will be seen the testicles of the male—two spheroidal, whitish bodies, which vary in size according to the season of the year. In the female will be seen the ovaries, a flattened mass of whitish bodies. These are often so minute as to defy the naked eye, and the inquirer is obliged to employ the microscope to make the distinction. The sign recognized by ornithologists all over the world is ? for males, and ? for females; to which is added for young birds the Latin juvenis or juv. or O, meaning young, and Nupt. for birds in nuptial or breeding plumage.

STUFFING.

In the first place we must prepare the wires that we shall need. There are three of these—the head wire and two leg wires. The first of these must be about three or four inches longer than the bird as it lies stretched out on the table (Fig. 2, A); the second and third two or three inches longer than the leg (C).

These wires must be perfectly straight (in the case of small wires this may be done by stretching), and have one end sharpened. To do this make a little groove with the file in the table, lay the end of the wire in this, and holding it in the left hand, place the forefinger near the end, and seizing the file in the right hand slowly sharpen, revolving the wire at the same time with the left. This will seem a little awkward at first, but you will soon become accustomed to it. Now take a piece of sand-paper and polish the wires.

Take the longest of the three wires, and bend the unsharpened end into an oblong ring—in length according to the size of the bird to be mounted. Or, instead of the ring, you may make a little oval block of wood, secure the head wire to one end, and bore holes for the leg wires, which must be firmly fastened. For this Blue Jay we will make it about one inch in length. Now around this ring or block as a nucleus, or foundation, place the tow and wind it on with thread or string, continually putting on more tow until you have an egg-shaped form (B). Wind around and then lengthways to accomplish this. For birds larger than a canary, the body may be made of hay or excelsior, and finished with a coating of tow. This is easier to put wires through, and is more economical. The tow body must be as near the size of the natural body as possible, if anything a trifle smaller, on no account larger. In order to be more accurate, I generally keep the body of the bird skinned, on my table, and while winding compare the artificial body with this until it is perfected. In this way a better shaped and firmer body is produced. Be careful that you do not get the body too soft (you cannot get it too hard), or when you come to set up your bird it will be too weak to stand on its legs; the wires will have nothing to clinch and hold to. Now take a bit of cotton, and with the forceps introduce into the eye-socket through the neck. Repeat on the other side. Fill up the cavity between the mandibles and the space in the cranium with finely cut tow. Unless you are making a "skin," this had better be done directly after poisoning the skin, before turning the head through the neck. Now as to the neck. Some say, "Fill out gently with chopped tow." I prefer to wind the wire, A, for a short distance, with a bit of tow. To make this stick, first rub the wire with a piece of beeswax. This, I think, makes a better neck, and is less liable to misshape and contort the skin.

Now push the leg wire through the sole of the foot, and run it along the leg-bone up through the leg. Great care must be taken not to break the tarsus or run the wire through the loose skin which envelops the leg so as to tear it. Repeat on the other leg. Now wind a little splint of tow around the bone and wire of each leg. This will require some practice, but once acquired it is very easy. Place the body in the skin, and with a twisting motion run the wire out through the top of the head. Gently draw the skin over the body until it is about half way in. Then run the leg wires through the body, a little front of the middle and a trifle higher up. When the wire appears through the other side, seize it with the twisters, and bending it into a hook, draw it firmly into the body. Repeat on the other side. Now work the body entirely into the skin, by bending lengthwise the legs, and gently sliding them on the wires. This done, take a little chopped tow or cotton and place it under the body, on each side, directly where the shoulders come. Pin or sew the edges of the skin together. There will be a long piece of wire projecting from the head. Cut this off, say quarter of an inch from the head; and making a ring at the unsharpened end, push it through the stump of the tail into the body. This is to support the tail (D).

Just now the bird is a decidedly shabby looking affair, and if you are not careful you will find yourself getting discouraged, and thinking that you have spoiled the skin. But do not despair, for if you have carefully followed the directions, all will be right, and you will soon have the pleasure of seeing a well-mounted specimen. But it will only be after many failures that you will succeed. Remember "Post nubila Phoebus,"—and it is just the same with bird stuffing.

The legs are now straddling wide apart. Bring them together parallel to each other, and make a sharp bend at the knee, bringing them over the body in a natural position. Now place the bird on a temporary perch; bend back the head, and arrange the body in the position you think most lifelike. Some difficulty may be found in adjusting the wings, but if preceding processes have been rightly carried out, they will readily fall, or may be easily worked into place. Stick two pins through them at right and obtuse angles to hold them in place (1 and 2, Fig. 3). Now your bird will look much better, and with the exception of rumpled feathers, quite lifelike. To remedy this latter, with the knitting-needle and thumb go all over the bird with a kind of picking process; lifting the feathers and letting them gently fall into place. You cannot work over the bird too long in this way; and the more time you spend in dressing the feathers, the better will be your specimen after drying. Now stick two pins along the back, and three along the breast (G, H, I, J, K). Fasten one end of the thread from the bobbin to the projecting head wire, and carefully wind the entire bird. Do this loosely, so as not to disarrange any of the feathers, tightening, however, wherever they tend to rise or look uneven.

This winding process is considered by some to be the most difficult part of bird mounting.

The specimen should now be set away for several days, or even weeks, if the bird be a large one, and allowed to dry; after which it may be unwound; the eyelids soaked, by inserting little flabs of wet cotton until they become soft and pliable; the eyes inserted in putty, and the lids carefully adjusted over them. The protruding head wire and the pins in the wings are cut off, and your bird mounted on the perch which you have already prepared for it.

WINGS AND TAIL.

Wings may be spread by running a wire through the primaries (Fig. 1, A) into the body, and placing another near the end of the wing as a support while drying. The tail may be spread by running a wire through the quills, near the "pope's nose" (Fig. 2, E), or by placing a bit of split wood across the tip and tying the open end firmly (Fig. 3, L). Crests may be raised or spread by inserting a small fluff, or ball of cotton under the feathers, using a pin to hold them in place.

When glass eyes are not at hand, black beads may be used. Or white glass beads may have a pupil (black) surrounded by the iris (yellow or brown) painted with oil colors on the back. If neither of the above can be procured, a half globe of the right size may be cut out of cork or wood and a pin run through its centre. The outside is then to be covered with sealing-wax or varnish until quite smooth, and then painted the required color.

The feet, tarsi, cere and loose skin about the necks of some birds often fade or become dull. These should be carefully painted, imitating the original colors as closely as possible.

You have now completed your first lesson, and I advise that you become perfectly familiar with skinning and mounting birds, before you take up that of animals. For you cannot become too familiar and too much at home in this department; and it will come in play fifty times, where the other does once.