192 TAXIDEEMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



made by firmly winding successive layers or bunches of excel- 

 sior or straw upon this wooden core, and binding each succes- 

 sive layer down with fine twine from start to finish, so that the 

 finished body shall be firm enough. If the false body is not 

 made hard enough, the leg- wires can not be firmly fastened, and 

 the bird will " wabble." 



If you have the fleshy body before you, or even the measure- 

 ments of it, it will be easy enough to reproduce its form and 

 size. It is desirable to copy the form of the natural body as 

 closely as possible, which in many cases necessitates the use of 

 a long needle to sew through and through it, in reproducing 

 certain hollows and corresponding elevations. Professor Dyche 

 lays great stress upon this point, and always makes the false body 

 of a bird with such care and attention to every detail of form that 

 when the skin is put over it it fits perfectly, the feathers fall 

 into position and lie properly, no extra filling being necessary 

 anywhere save at the tail ; and, what is more, he considers that 

 it is unnecessary to wind down the plumage with thread. The 

 most life-like snowy owl I have ever seen is one which Profes- 

 sor Dyche mounted for me as a practical demonstration of his 

 method, the virtue of which was thus handsomely proven. The 

 skin was the same as a fresh one, having been made less than a 

 year, and the excelsior body was made to fit it without the aid of 

 measurements. As the result of repeated ocular demonstration, 

 I am convinced that Professor Dy die's method of making every 

 body with extreme care, as to form and details, is well worthy 

 of universal adoption. 



The necessity of removing the tendons from the legs of all 

 large birds has already been mentioned. When this has been 

 done, the wiring of the leg is an easy matter, for the wire will 

 take the place of the tendon so perfectly that there will be no 

 outward sign of its presence. Use as large leg- wires as you can 

 without disfiguring the leg of the bird. 



When any animal is mounted in a walking attitude, the foot 

 which is represented in the act of leaving the ground must always 

 have its centre well elevated, and only the toes touching. This 

 being the case, surely no intelligent taxidermist will ever be 

 guilty of so unpardonable an offence against the eye as to run 

 the supporting-iron straight down from the ball of the foot to 



