ing coverts,
the back, the tail (firmly wired), and the upper and under tail
coverts; lastly, the head and neck pieces, shaping the made neck into
position, etc, as you proceed. [Footnote: Note that even in
close-winged birds, which a pieced specimen such as this one described
must be of necessity, it is always advisable to wire the wings as for
flight, running them on these wires close to the body, and giving them
by this means the necessary curvature; entirely different, and much
more natural, than if simply bolted on by straight wires running
through the shoulders into the body.]

Sometimes it is necessary to slip a piece of wadding underneath to
swell out a certain set of feathers; in this case, lift up the
surrounding parts with a crooked awl or with the feather-pliers, and
carefully insert the wadding in such a manner that the paste shall not
clog the other feathers in juxtaposition.

When finished to your satisfaction, lightly sponge off any excess of
paste with warm water; wipe down with benzoline, and dust plaster
thickly over all the specimen; this assists the drying and cleans it.
In an hour or so dust off the plaster with a bunch of feathers, and
bind the skin with "wrapping cotton" in the usual manner. Set it in a
warm place, or in a current of air, for a week or so, to dry, and,
lastly, put in the eyes and finish off. The foregoing, though
apparently a Caesarian operation, is not difficult to a practised
hand. I may, perhaps, here mention, in order to encourage my readers,
that I myself once successfully mounted a large snowy owl from
thirteen pieces of skin, and that had there been twenty-three it would
have come out just as well.

In "relaxing" it is often better, especially in such specimens as
Birds of Paradise, to pull off the legs and wings; by this means the
skin is more easily stretched, and always, in the hands of a master,
makes up more satisfactorily than by any other means.

CHAPTER XII Colouring Bills And Feet Of Birds, Bare Skin Of Mammals,
Fishes, Etc.--Restoring Shrunken Parts By A Wax Process--Drying And
Colouring Ferns Grasses, Seaweeds, Etc.--"Piece Moulds," And Modelling
Fruit In Plaster--Preserving Spiders--Making Skeletons Of Animals,
Skeleton Leaves Etc.--Polishing Horns, Shells, Etc.--Egg Collecting
And Preserving--Additional Formulae, Etc.

COLOURING BILLS AND FEET OF BIRDS.--Birds which, when alive, have either
legs, bills, or faces of various bright colours, lose these tin