We will suppose that a proficiency, from practice, has been attained in
the art of bird-preserving, according to the instructions given. The
proficiency in preserving may apply only to the preservation and the
form, great and necessary things, no doubt, as preliminaries; but, like
matter without manner, of little avail alone. For attitude, I would say,
as has been said to many a young artist, go to Nature, and there you
will find an original in perfection. Would you make a willow-wren look
like a willow-wren, watch him as he there hangs upon the weeping birch,
or stands on a bough peering in quest of food? Each bird has its own
manner, and if you cannot hit the manner, or make your stuffed skin so
far amenable as to assume the attitude, it is either ill-stuffed, or you
want the requisite knowledge of that which you should copy.
=Bird Pinned Up.= Having fixed on the attitude, it now only remains to
put the feathers into their natural order as smoothly and regularly as
possible; and to keep them in this state they should be bound around
with small fillets of muslin fastened with pins. The bird should then be
thoroughly dried, by placing it in an airy situation, if in summer; or
if in winter, near the fire, but not so close as to affect the natural
oil contained in the feathers. The want of proper attention in drying
ruins many a fine specimen; if long kept damp putridity ensues despite
all preservatives, when the skin will become rotten, and the feathers
will soon fall off; besides, the mold and long-continued damp change the
chemical properties of the preservatives used.
After the bird has been thoroughly dried, the fillets are removed; the
wire which protruded from the head is cut off as close to the skull as
possible, with the wire-cutting pincers elsewhere shown. It must then be
attached to a circular, or other shaped piece of wood, with the generic
and specific name and sex, as well as its country and locality attached
to it, on a small ticket, when it may be placed in a museum.
Young hands commonly suppose that a bird should stand bolt upright, with
the legs almost perpendicular, or at right angles to the perch. This is
a great mistake, and never to be found in nature. Do _we_ stand rigid,
like a foot-soldier on drill? Does not a bird, as well as ourselves,
accommodate itself to the thing on which it rests? Assuredly it does;
for birds do not, as a young bird-stuffer endeavors to do, find always a
perch to rest upon in the plane of the horizon. It therefore follows
that, as he keeps himself upright, his legs must accommodate themselves
to his perch. So in the ground-birds there is a gentle slope backwards
from the hind toe, the balance being preserved in both cases by throwing
the body forward in proportion. It is not uncommon to see birds
preserved with wings and tail spread. Now, ordinarily speaking, this is
very objectionable, because very unnatural. A bird preserved is supposed
to represent a bird in a state of repose, that is, not in flight; the
only modification allowable being with regard to those birds whose
manner it may be to have the wings more or less open on occasions; thus
the falcon tribe, supposing they are represented as devouring a quarry,
or two birds toying with each other. It may be that a bird essentially
aërial, like the swift, or perhaps some of the terns or the frigate
bird, may be represented as actually on the wing. In this case, of
course, the wings must be spread; and this is best done by passing a
wire, not too thick, from the base of the quill-feathers on the under
side, alongside the bone into the body, where it should be carefully and
coaxingly inserted towards the tail until you feel that you have a
pretty good hold. You may then pass it carefully under the longest
quill-feather, and through the back of the case, and fasten it by
bringing it back again through and clinching it, concealing it so by the
oblique position of the bird that it is not detectable. It is obvious
that by passing the wire alongside the bone, you may bend the wings to
any angle you please. With regard to the case there are two methods: one
a bell-glass, which, glass being now so reasonable, is certainly a very
pretty and reasonable way of mounting, but inapplicable to birds which
are to be placed on a wall, or to be represented flying; although this
may be managed by attaching one wire from the point of the wing to a
twig sufficiently firm, which it will scarcely appear to touch, if
managed adroitly. It is likewise indispensable that a bird for a shade
should be stuffed so well as to look nicely in all positions. One thing
must always be remembered, _do not have your case a shade too large_,
just clear the object so as not to stint it for room; and in flat cases
this applies chiefly to depth, for it should have sufficient light, or
it will not look well. Wooden cases should be made as slight (in
thickness) as is consistent with firmness; well-seasoned white deal is
best; and the case should be formed of back, top and bottom, open at the
front and sides, and at each corner of the front two slight deal
supports, rabbited on their inner edges, and presenting on the whole a
good appearance.
Having the case prepared, it should be papered with ordinary demy paper
on the top and back within, and, when the paste is dry, washed over
carefully with size and whitening, tinted with a little stone-blue; some
add some touches of white subsequently to represent clouds, the ground
representing the air; some also paste a landscape on the back, but this
must be good, or you had better have plain color. The bird to be placed
in this case is either perching, standing, or flying. For the latter,
directions have been given. As to the two former, the perch must be
firmly fixed in the small piece of flat wood upon which it previously
stood, and put in upon it, the wood being fastened to the bottom of the
case, either by screwing from below, from above, or gluing with stout
glue, or by passing wire through two holes in the bottom of the case and
the wood, and clinching above. In this case, or in screwing from below,
let the wire or the screw into the wood, and putty over, and so if the
bird is represented standing. The bird being fixed, the next thing is
the decorating or “weeding,” as it is technically called, and here we
enter upon a subject so entirely of taste and fancy, that no fixed rules
as to the disposition can in all cases be given. One rule applies
equally to this as to landscape painting, viz., that there should always
be a compensation of objects. That is, if you have a tuft of grass on
one side which rises towards the top of the case, there should be
something in the lower opposite corner to strike the eye, but not to
rise above midway up at the furthest, and the ground, or floor, should
not be overfurnished with mosses, etc. After the bird is fixed, the
whole bottom should be carefully glued over with thin glue, taking care,
where the bird’s feet are on the bottom, not to touch the toes with the
glue. Some fine-sifted sand or gravel should then be sifted over it, and
it will adhere wherever the glue has touched; for this purpose a small
tin shovel is best, about two inches wide by four long, with a handle in
proportion, which can be made to order at any tinman’s for a trifle.
Everything used in “weeding” should be baked in a slow oven, otherwise
spider’s eggs and minute creatures, which are pretty sure to be
contained in it, will make their appearance after the case is closed in
the disagreeable form of destroying your specimen. Moss, etc., by being
slowly dried, will also keep its color better. Yellow moss, found on the
roofs of old barns, and dark gray of the same species, are very
generally useful; and where yellow moss cannot be had, the white or gray
may be colored with chrome, and looks as well. Water plants fade, being
more or less succulent, and hence a little common water-color with gum
will be used with advantage and look less artificial than oil plant,
which is often used. Fern looks very pretty as an adjunct for
heath-birds, but it should be dried gradually and carefully, when
_quite_ full grown, and a small touch of light green, permanent white
forming a portion of it, will give it a freshness and more natural
appearance. Grass in seed (not in flower) of various kinds is also a
very pretty addition; but bird preservers have a habit of using dyed
grass, and yellow and red _Xeranthymum_, or Everlasting, which is
certainly to be avoided, and indeed anything which is unnatural. If it
is wished to introduce a lump of earth, or an apparent bank, a piece of
thick brown paper, bent to the requisite shape, and glued over and
covered with sifted sand or gravel, has a very good effect; but insects
and butterflies, or artificial flowers, unless they are extremely
natural, should certainly be avoided. Regard should also be had to the
season at which the bird is usually seen. For instance, summer birds
are, of course, surrounded by green and living objects, but autumn or
winter visitants by decaying or dead herbage. It has often been made an
experiment to represent snow, but it is difficult to obtain anything
white enough, and at the same time of a crystalline character, which, of
course, it should be. Potato farina nicely dried, mixed with Epsom salts
pounded very fine, does not make a bad substitute; but the real
difficulty lies behind, namely, in fixing it, and, more than all, the
least damp takes very much from its appearance, if it does not destroy
the effect, and hence we must have recourse to mineral aid, and any very
white mineral powder mingled with pounded glass is perhaps best. It is
unnecessary to say that the herbage upon which it is meant to rest
should be touched all over with paste, not glue, and the white mixture
shaken over and left to dry. What will heighten the effect very much, if
prettily executed, is a black landscape with a dark leaden sky and
nearly black earth mingled with moss. To represent water, a piece of
looking-glass, surrounded by moss, etc., answers very well. The bills
and legs of birds should be always varnished, and where the natural
color fades after death it should be restored by a thin coat of
oil-color of the required shade. The bird being fixed and the case
garnished, nothing remains but to put in the glass; this is in three
pieces, one for the front and a piece at each end. This can be pasted in
with very strong paper round the edge, advancing sufficiently over the
glass to hold it. In doing this it is not necessary to be very
particular to avoid pasting the glass, as after it is dried it can be
wiped clean with a damp cloth. The last operation is a very simple one,
and done in a few minutes. You must procure some black spirit-varnish,
which you can make yourself by dissolving the best black sealing-wax in
spirits of wine, and should be kept corked; when this is good it acts as
paint and varnish at the same time, and dries as fast as it is put on.
One or two brass rings screwed on at the top of the back of the case
will finish the bird, and if the case be nicely and closely made, there
is no limit of time to which the preservation of the specimen may not
extend.
=Method of Mounting Dried Skins.= We must now say something respecting
the setting up of skins which have been preserved by travelers, and sent
home from distant parts.
The general method is exactly the same as in stuffing recent specimens.
There are, however, some preliminary steps, which it is necessary to
know.
If the specimen sent home has been partially stuffed, our first business
is to undo the stitches, if it has been sewed—which was an unnecessary
process. We then remove the whole cotton or tow from the inside, by the
assistance of forceps, and from the neck with a small piece of wire,
twisted or hooked at the end. Having finished this, small balls of wet
cotton are placed in the orbits of the eyes, and the legs and feet are
wrapped round with wet cotton or linen rags. A _damp_ cloth is then
thrown over the bird, and it is allowed to remain in this state till
next day. The neck and body are then filled with wet linen or cotton,
and it will be ready for commencing setting up in four or five hours.
The eyes are now put in, as directed in the recent subjects, and then
stuffed in exactly the same manner. Some difficulty will, however, be
experienced with respect to the leg-wires, and it will require more time
and care, from the dryness of the legs, to get the wire to penetrate.
Having proceeded so far as to get the bird generally formed, the wings
are next adjusted; this also is frequently difficult, owing to the
stiffness of the tendons, and want of proper attention in skinning and
drying them at first. Indeed, with some of the South American birds, a
proper adjustment of the wings is found impracticable, owing to the
attempts of the native Indians of Guyana, who seldom dispose them
properly.
When these skins—frequently exceedingly valuable from their rarity—are
undone, to be remounted, it is oftentimes found utterly impossible to
get the wings to take a natural set, in which case there is no other
remedy but cutting them off close to the body, and fixing them anew. The
scapulars are separated, they are softened with damp cloths, and then
wrapped up with bands of sheet lead, to give them a proper set. When we
have got them in their natural shape, they must be fixed to the sides by
cement and cotton, and a long pin through each, with the head concealed
amongst the feathers. The scapulars, which we have cut off, must then be
cemented on, and they will effectually cover the joining of the wings.
The bird being now arranged, and all the feathers adjusted, it is
wrapped round with small bands of fine linen or muslin, and set aside
till thoroughly dry.
Should any feathers be disengaged during the mounting, they must be
kept, and, when the bird is dry, we can replace them in their proper
situations with a pair of forceps, after they have been touched on their
shafts with the cement; the feathers around the place in which we intend
to insert them, must be held up with the probing-needle.
If any of the feathers are deranged in mounting, and have got a wrong
set, the only way to remedy the defect is to pull them out with forceps,
and re-insert them with cement.
=Of Mounting Birds, Feather by Feather.= Rare birds are frequently
received from foreign countries, the skins of which are in such a state
of decay, that it is impossible to mount them by the ordinary processes
above described. The only way in which they can be preserved, is to
mount them feather by feather, which, however, is a very tedious method.
It is as follows:
Procure a piece of soft pliable wire, such as is used by bell-hangers;
or take some of the ordinary wire used, and make it red-hot in the fire,
and allow it to cool gradually, when it will become quite pliable. Take
five pieces of this, of different lengths, and form them into the
skeleton of a body; namely, two for the back, one on each side, and one
to represent the breast bone. Imitate the shape of the bird’s body, as
nearly as possible. The wires must be roughened with a file, at the
place where all the wires meet, at the neck and rump; and first wrap the
place next the neck round with strong thread or fine brass wire. Two
pieces intended for the back must bend gently downwards, and be
gradually separated from each other towards the center, and brought
together again at the place intended for the rump, where they must
intersect each other, and be twisted two or three times, to keep them in
their place; they are then spread out as supports for the tail; the side
pieces are next formed, so as to represent the natural bulge of a bird’s
body, and attached to the rump; the piece representing the breast is
then formed, joined at the rump, and afterwards continued as long as the
other tail-pieces, to support the center of the tail; while at the front
extremity a piece is left, for the purpose of forming a neck to which to
attach the head. The leg-wires are attached to the side-wires, being
rolled round them for several turns, making a framework the shape of the
bird.
After this body has been properly formed, it must be wrapped round with
tow-sliver, and the neck thickened to its required dimensions. When this
is accomplished, the head, legs, wings and tail are softened in the
usual manner; the eyes are then fixed in with some cotton introduced
into the orbits, with a little of the cement. The wings and tail are now
placed on a table, with a flat leaden weight above each, to restore them
to their natural shape. The leg-wires are then passed through the legs,
commencing at the top, and bringing them out at the soles of the feet,
and left with a piece extending beyond the claws.
The tail is now fixed on, by first attaching to it a quantity of cotton
with the cement, and, when dry, it is fixed to the part intended as the
rump.
The feet of the bird must be fixed into a piece of wood, as a perch, the
ends of which must be left some inches beyond the body. The end next the
tail is fixed into a table-vice, with the belly upwards, and the head
pointing towards the operator. The feathers are now put on, commencing,
under the tail, or crissum, with what are termed the under-tail coverts;
a coating of cement must be previously laid on, to attach the feathers
with. It is proceeded with upwards to the breast, and finally the length
of the neck, taking care to put the proper feathers on their respective
sides, as the side-feathers have all an inclination to one side. The
bird is now turned with the back up, still keeping the head towards the
stuffer; and the wings are fixed on with cement, and pins forced through
the beards of the feathers to conceal the heads. When this is done, put
on the feathers of the rump, and proceed upwards, as has been done with
the belly. After reaching the top of the neck, the head is then fixed on
with some cotton immersed in the cement, and allowed to dry before
attempting to put on the feathers.
In this mode of mounting a bird there are several things which must be
attentively adhered to; these are—first, not to put the feathers too
thick, for there is a danger of running short; secondly, all the shafts
of the feathers must have a small bit cut off the tip, so as to admit
the cement and to give them a firmer hold; and thirdly, that the
feathers should all occupy their respective parts; and fourthly, that
they should be arranged as they are in nature on these parts, as the
disposition of every part of the body is peculiar to itself.
At first, this mode of setting up birds will be found a difficult task,
but, by a little practice and experience, it will become familiar and
comparatively easy, although it will always be found a tedious process.
We have seen some specimens set up in this way, which we could hardly
detect from those mounted in the ordinary manner.
Besides what we have already said concerning the stuffing and preparing
of birds, there are many details connected with particular species which
demand our attention, and which can only be described as regarding that
species. It will, however, be impossible for us to enter into all these
minutely, but only give a few examples as general guides. We shall take
these in systematic succession.
=Preservation of Colors.= In the preservation of the feathers of birds,
little else is required to prevent the dissipation of their colors than
to keep them as much as possible from air and light. These two agents,
which were indispensable to their beauty and perfection in a living
state, now exercise their influence as destroyers, and that influence
will sooner or later work its ends according to the quality, texture, or
color of the object with which it is contending. The feathers are now
deprived of two agents, which in a living state contributed to their
vigor and their beauty, namely, the internal circulating juices which
they received from the body of the animal, and the external application
of oil by the bill of the bird, supplied from a gland which is placed
over the rump of all birds.
The colors of the rapacious tribes are not so evanescent as those of
many others, as they, for the most part, are composed of intense browns
and blacks, which are not so easily absorbed by light or air, so that
they continue for a very long period without any sensible difference.
There are, however, certain other points which are liable to almost
immediate change of color after the death of the animals, and these are
the cere and skin of the legs and feet, and the naked skin on the heads
and necks of vultures and their congeners. We shall treat of these
individually.
Now, as all these colors which we have described are liable to change
immediately after death, it is evident that considerable nicety will be
required to give the preserved specimen the appearance of nature. These
must, therefore, be supplied artificially with the varnish colors, which
we have particularly described in their proper place, as also the
combinations for the formation of compound colors. The reddish-brown
color mentioned, of which the fold is composed, must be touched by a
mixture of the scarlet varnish, with a little powdered burnt umber, and
the blue streaks with which it is traversed, colored above with cobalt
blue. All the varnish colors have a tendency to shine, which, it will be
evident, is not the character of any part of the skin or caruncle of the
bird described. As soon, therefore, as it is thoroughly dry, which will
be in about an hour, the whole surface must be gently rubbed with very
fine sand-paper, which will completely remove the gloss and give the
appearance of nature.
Some nicety will be required in painting betwixt the hairs, but it can
be easily managed with a little caution. Sometimes these hairs are
liable to become brown, in which case they can be touched with the black
varnish.
As these birds are inhabitants of warm climates, some care is requisite
after killing them, to prevent decay; the tendons of the legs should be
extracted to prevent their being attacked by moths, and their place
supplied by some cotton and preservatives. The tendons are extracted by
means of a longitudinal incision made behind the tarsus. The edges of
this incision can easily be brought together when the bird is under the
process of preparation.