Taxidermy Vol.1 Birds - The Preparation, Skinning, Mounting and Collecting of Birds

Eggs

TAXIDERMY

ALTHOUGH it is true that the curing of skins for clothing has been practiced from the most remote times, the art of Taxidermy is of comparatively recent origin. The mounting of birds and other animals in natural and lifelike positions has been extensively practiced only during the last century.

It has been left until even more recent times to elevate the art from its crude beginnings. By combining the efforts of the taxidermist, artist and modeller, some really great works have been executed in the best museums of America and Europe. In our own country we have the commencement of several museums, one at Victoria, B. C., being fairly complete. Wonderful as our North American wild life is, many species are in various stages of the process of extinction and it is regrettable that they should be allowed to pass before their external characteristics go on permanent record through the taxidermist’s skill.

This book is written expressly for the amateur. Let it be understood that its purpose is not to incite the would-be collector to go forth and slay everything in sight with the sole purpose of making a large collection of stuffed fauna. Far from it. The workshops of professional taxidermists are periodically filled with our most valuable birds, slain in many cases by alleged sportsmen who go after game and, finding none, must shoot something. There are many trophies secured by legitimate sport that can be preserved and will in later years bring back memories that cause us to live over again the scenes and exploits of vigorous youth. The practice of taxidermy is also a source of much pleasure and no little profit to those who attain proficiency in the art.

The observations and instructions contained in these pages are the outcome of many years practical experience and it is my sincere wish that they will prove of great assistance to those readers who are interested in this work.

Before we proceed further let me with all good intentions issue a word of warning against the indiscriminate killing of birds and many other forms of wild life, a great number of which are of the utmost economic importance to the agriculturist and the community at large. The Dominion Department of Agriculture, Ottawa and the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., issue free bulletins written by specialists on these subjects. These can be had for the asking, and I would strongly advise readers to procure them and to make a study of the habits of the different forms of wild life in their vicinity. This will help greatly in the practice of Taxidermy, and to those who are farmers, will also eventually have an additional dollar and cent value by showing which forms are beneficial and which harmful.

TOOLS

The tools required by the Taxidermist need not be many at first. I have known several first class workmen who could make a really fine job of a bird with nothing more than a jack-knife, a pair of scissors, pliers and an old file. While this may be sufficient for one who is a master of his profession, it will pay the beginner to get a few good tools. By this I do not mean one of the elaborate sets sold by some firms, many of the articles in which are either of little use or unnecessary.

Fig. 13.

Fig. 14.

Our first chapters will deal with the skinning and mounting of birds and small mammals. I will therefore describe the tools which are necessary for this part of the work and leave the others to be described as we proceed.

Most of the articles necessary are described on page 97. Practically all may be purchased from dealers in taxidermist supplies. Nos. 1 and 2 are scalpels used in skinning, No. 3, tweezers for adjusting the feathers of birds and kindred purposes, No. 4, scissors, of which it is better to have two pairs, one fairly heavy for cutting small bones, etc. For the larger birds and mammals a pair of bone snips may be purchased. Nos. 5 and 7 are stuffing irons which the reader can make for himself out of steel wire of various lengths and thicknesses. No. 6 is a pair of stuffing forceps. If desired a blacksmith can fashion these for you out of a pair of old scissors. No. 8, a pair of strong cutting pliers which you will need for cutting wires and for heavy work. No. 9 is a very handy tool and is called a scraper, it can be used to clean the bones and skulls of specimens, to insert eyes and for a multitude of other uses. A blacksmith can easily make one or it may be purchased direct from the dealer. No. 10, an ordinary brad-awl of which two or three sizes had better be secured. No. 11 is a three-cornered needle, known as a surgical needle, and No. 12, a three-cornered straight, or glover’s needle. It is better to have a small assortment of these. Fig. 13 is a pair of fine flat-nosed pliers which are indispensable for use on small birds and mammals. Fig. 14 shows three modelling tools of various shapes. The reader can make any number of these from pieces of hard wire or ordinary nails of various sizes and lengths from 3 inches to 7 inches. The ends are heated and then hammered and bent into the shape desired and afterwards finished with a file and grindstone. It is better to temper the metal by plunging it into cold water whilst still hot. Larger modelling tools can usually be purchased at a good hardware store, but they are too large for fine work. You will also require a steel comb to comb out fur and a file to sharpen wires and metal parts.

I am taking it for granted that the reader is possessed of such carpenters’ tools as a saw, hammer, brace and bits, and plane. These are indispensable. The student will also require a few artist’s sable brushes, and also brushes suitable for varnish, stain, glue and paste. He will need also a feather duster or goose wing to dust out feathers when cleaning birds.

The following list of materials will be required for the successful mounting of birds and small mammals. Some fine tow, excelsior, cotton batting, cotton twine and spools of thread, ordinary pins, large and small, very fine cotton or cotton caps for binding the plumage of birds, hardwood sawdust and corn meal, common plaster of Paris, gasoline, artificial eyes, a quantity of glue and coarse building paper for making papier-mache, some ordinary flour, arsenical paste, and corrosive solution. The following artist tube colors (oil), are also needed: Ivory black, Vandyke brown, Flake white, Chrome yellow, Yellow ochre, Prussian blue, Permanent blue, Purple lake, Vermilion, Light red. A greater assortment may be kept if desired but these will suffice for all ordinary purposes.

How to Collect and Preserve Eggs and Nests

The largest number of eggs that the writer has ever seen in a private collection were absolutely worthless. No pains or expense had been spared in making the collection, but the one important thing had been neglected, namely, ACCURATE DATA AND CLASSIFICATION.

The young entomologist cannot learn too early that the identification must be positive and the record kept in such a manner that confusion is impossible.

A collection of eggs is indeed beautiful, and yet its office is alone to furnish information on the nesting habits of the birds that produce them.

We suggest that the student of oology provide himself with Davie’s Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, as well as several other standard publications, and thoroughly prepare himself in the art of identification.

Tools and Material:           Eggs

Egg drills, numbers 1, 3, 4 and 5.

Embryo hooks, numbers 8 and 9.

One straight blow-pipe, 6-inch.

One curved blow-pipe, 5-inch.

One pair nickel-plated forceps with very fine points.

One caliper rule for measuring eggs.

One pair embryo scissors, curved.

One pocket collecting case.

One pair climbing irons, Eastern.

Supply of data blanks.

Labels.

There are three fundamental principles that must govern the collector if he expects to make a collection that has any scientific value whatever; all other points are secondary when compared with these:

FIRST—NEVER DISTURB A NEST OR REMOVE THE EGGS UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN THE PARENT BIRD.

SECOND—NEVER TAKE THE EGGS OR NEST UNTIL YOU SECURE THE PARENT BIRD IF THERE BE A SHADOW OF A DOUBT IN YOUR MIND ABOUT IDENTIFICATION.

THIRD—NEVER ADD A SINGLE EGG TO YOUR COLLECTION UNTIL COMPLETE AND AUTHENTIC DATA HAS BEEN SECURED AND RECORDED.

Follow these suggestions and you have the secrets of scientific egg collecting. A miscellaneous group of unclassified eggs and nests are not worth the boxes that contain them. Just pause a moment while these truths soak in.

In collecting eggs and nests, as with insects, the student will use his own ingenuity in finding them. A study of the habits of birds, both from books and nature, will guide you somewhat in your hunting, yet the exceptions are so frequent that the only rule to follow is—simply look everywhere.

In nesting season watch the birds as they fly with bits of straw and other building material in their beaks. Locate the nest and later in the season you will be rewarded. By placing hemp, threads and strings in places frequented by the feathered friends, you will be able to locate many homes in the process of construction.

The richest find, however, will be made on your excursions, when you are fully equipped with climbers, gun and collection box.

When the nest is located, watch patiently in the vicinity until the mother bird has been seen to visit it and you have made your identification perfect. It is not safe to conclude that the nests belong to certain birds simply because you see them in the same tree or bunch of shrubbery. Exercise your patience until every doubt has been removed.

As stated above, if you cannot possibly identify the specimen, shoot it and carry it home with you, where you will get out your key and make every effort to ascertain the proper classification. If possible to do so, skin the specimen, preserve it carefully and send it to some reliable person for identification.

The eggs, when removed from the nest, should each be wrapped in a separate bit of cotton and packed in a suitable box or paper bag, which is numbered to correspond to the description in your field notebook, and then packed in your collecting box.

On reaching home, carefully unwrap the eggs and lay them on cotton mats, each group together, and indicate the series by number. Do not trust the slightest detail to your memory.

The contents of the eggs will now be removed. With the drill, which must be as small as possible, bore a hole through the shell on one side, near the larger end. Insert the blow pipe and remove the contents. Do not make two holes on opposite sides, as oologists formerly did. Fill the blow pipe with water and force it into the egg, thoroughly washing the interior.

If the egg be in an advanced stage of incubation, it will be necessary to make the opening somewhat larger and remove the contents piece by piece with a small embryo hook. If a small quantity of water is introduced and the egg laid away for a few days, the operation will be facilitated.

The eggs are now ready for the cabinet. Keep each set together in a neatly constructed cotton nest, in a separate division of the drawer.

Each set has a separate number, and each egg in the set is also identified by a number. For example, the set is the 200th collected and contains five eggs. We shall write in ink on the under side (same side as the opening) 200-1, which means that this egg is number one of set two hundred, and so on. In this way no two eggs can possibly have the same denomination. The label also accompanies the set and is as follows:

The measurements are easily taken with the caliper rule and are very important. Complete record books are kept of the history of each collection and nest, and so indexed that you can instantly turn to the page describing any particular egg or set.

Eggs may be safely transported through the mail by packing in wood or tin boxes. Wrap each egg in cotton, tie with thread and place small bits of cotton between the eggs in the box. Never use pasteboard boxes, as they are sure to be crushed and the contents destroyed. Use a small wood box containing cotton and carefully pack the eggs before mailing.

Many collectors use pine sawdust in the cabinet drawers instead of cotton, and it answers the purpose admirably.

Handle the eggs carefully at all times as they are very fragile, hence easily broken. You will learn this, however, by personal experience.

Nests

It is desirable to take the nests when possible, and make them the permanent receptacle of the eggs found therein. Great care must be taken that the shape is not destroyed, especially with loosely constructed nests. It is a good plan to carry a small saw with you and detach a portion of the limb, leaving the nest secured in the original manner.

Exact data must be taken on the location and construction of the nest. The kind of tree or bush (if located in one), distance from ground, material used, how attached, etc., are the most important points. The more complete the description, the better.

If the nest is not firm, you must bind it together by wrapping with thread, or even sewing it through with needle and thread.

In addition to the scientific value connected with nest collecting, an endless variety of artistic creations are possible along the line of Taxidermy make-ups.

What is more beautiful or suggestive than a natural limb on which the nest rests, with the parent birds hovering near, or the mother seated on the nest with the male swinging on the adjacent branches?

Your imagination will assist in planning these pleasing scenes, or better still, reproduce the conditions actually observed in the woods and fields. In concluding this lesson we must say again that too much care cannot be taken in the classification and identification of the oologist’s specimens. Never act in haste or jump at conclusions.

Be accurate, be neat, be energetic, and you will succeed in a laudable degree.

COLLECTING BIRDS’ EGGS AND NESTS.

IDENTIFICATION.—Positive and unmistakable identification of the builder and occupant of a nest is quite as imperative on the collector as the gathering of the nest and eggs themselves. There must be no guess-work on this point, for eggs without a pedigree are often valueless. If an oological expert is within reach—one who can tell to a certainty the species of doubtful eggs, or if the eggs themselves are so characteristic and unique in their shape, size, and markings as to render their certain identification an easy matter, then is it safe to take home a find without finding the owner.

It is only the fledgling oologist who needs to be told that in all cases of doubt regarding the identity (i.e., the exact species) of a nest-builder, the only proper course is to collect the bird as well as the nest and eggs. This may often involve long watching, but it relieves the result from all uncertainty. No collector should think of going afield in quest of nests and eggs without taking his gun along. In South America, the only way in which I could get possession of the wonderful pensile nest of the crested cacique was by cutting off the limb to which it hung, with a rifle bullet.

In all timbered regions the collector must have a pair of good climbing-irons, such as telegraph linemen use, to enable him to climb with ease the nest-bearing trees that would otherwise defy him. It was before the days of climbing-irons that aspiring Sir Walter Raleigh wrote for the fair eyes of Queen Elizabeth,

Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall,

to which his august mistress promptly responded with a piece of wisdom which every young oologist will do well to paste in his hat:

If thy mind fail thee, do not climb at all!

Very good and serviceable climbing-irons can be obtained of Mr. Frank B. Webster, 409 Washington Street, Boston, for $3.50 per pair. Mr. Webster also keeps, at his very complete naturalist’s supply depot, nearly every requisite that an oologist or taxidermist requires, except one thing that is indispensable in hunting and lofty tree-climbing,—nerve. Every collector or taxidermist should send Mr. Webster ten cents for a copy of his illustrated catalogue, which of itself is probably the finest of its kind ever issued, and in which all naturalist’s and oologist’s supplies are pictured, described, and priced. The following are the principal articles needed to make up a proper outfit for an egg collector, and Mr. Webster’s prices thereon:

Collecting-box, 75 cents.

Egg drills, six sizes, 15 cents to $1.50.

Calipers, for use in measuring, 60 cents.

Embryo hooks, 25 cents.

Embryo scissors, 25 cents to $1.50.

Egg measures,