Fig. 1. The dead Owl, showing the cuts made in skinning it: A to
B, for the body; El to H, on each wing, to remove the meat of the
second joint.

Fig. 2. After the skinning is done the skull remains attached to
the skin, which is now inside out, the neck and body are cut off
at Ct. Sn to Sn shows the slit in the nape needed for Owls and
several other kinds.

Fig. 3. Top view of the tow body, neck end up, and neck wire
projecting.

Fig. 4. Side view of the tow body, with the neck wire put through
it; the tail end is downward.

Fig. 5. The heavy iron wire for neck.

Fig. 6. The Owl after the body is put in; it is now ready to close
up, by stitching up the slit on the nape, the body slit B to C and
the two wing slits El to H, on each wing.

Fig. 7. A dummy as it _would look_ if all the feathers were
off; this shows the proper position for legs and wings on the
body. At W is a glimpse of the leg wire entering the body at the
middle of the side.

Fig. 8. Another view of the body without feathers; the dotted
lines show the wires of the legs through the hard body, and the
neck wire.

Fig. 9. Two views of one of the wooden eyes; these are on a much
larger scale than the rest of the figures in this plate.

Fig. 10. The finished Owl, with the thread wrappings on and
the wires still projecting; Nw is end of the neck wire; Bp is
back-pin--that is, the wire in the center of the back; Ww and Ww
are the wing wires; Tl are the cards pinned on the tail to hold it
flat while it dries. The last operation is to remove the threads
and cut all the wires off close so that the feathers hide what
remains.

While they were so working Sam had busied himself opening the Owls'
stomachs--"looking up their records," as he called it. He now reported
that one had lynched a young Partridge and the other had killed a
Rabbit for its latest meal.

Next night Si Lee came as promised, but brought bad news. He had
failed to find the glass Owl eyes he had hoped were in his trunk. His
ingenuity, however, was of the kind that is never balked in a small
matter. He produced some black and yellow oil paints, explaining,
"Guess we'll make wooden eyes do for the present, an' when you get to
town you can put glass ones in their place." So Sam was set to work
whittling four wooden eyes the shape of well-raised buns and about
three-qu