ORNAMENTAL TAXIDERMY. 225 



neck. Of these the two first mentioned are the most beautiful, 

 especially the roseate spoonbill. 



There is one form of screen produced in the west against 

 which I protest. An entire bird is mounted standing- on a 

 perch-standard, its wings are spread full stretch, and drawn up- 

 ward, regardless of the laws of anatomy, until the front edges 

 meet and touch on a perpendicular lino above the bird's back. 

 Such an arrangement of wings for a bird that is otherwise m/f- 

 uri-illy mounted is painful to look upon, to say the least. The 

 bird seems to be undergoing torture, and the general effect is 

 not pretty. 



BIRD MEDALLIONS. --In 1880 Mr. F. S. Webster's genius 

 evolved one of the most beautiful designs in ornamental taxi- 

 dermy ever produced, viz., the bird medallion. The idea of 

 mounting one-half of a bird was not of itself a new one, but Mr. 

 Webster's development of that suggestion was entirely new and 

 novel. Instead of mounting one side of a bird with the rotun- 

 dity that an actual half of a fully mounted bird should possess, 

 he studiously flattened the subject, carefully preserving all the 

 while a perfect uniformity in proportions, and in each case pro- 

 duced the proportions of an ordinary medallion. Of course 

 both legs appeared on the specimen, and every specimen so 

 mounted was the finest of its kind, and faultless in form and 

 finish. The first specimen of this sort may be described as a 

 type of all the rest. 



The subject chosen was a snowy heron (Ardea cautdidissima) 

 of extra fine quality. In the centre of a massive and very deep 

 gold and velvet frame, with a glass across its top, against a 

 background of black velvet of the heaviest and finest quality 

 stood the snow-white bird, in relief, a genuine medallion. The 

 exquisite plumes of the head, breast, and back lay against the 

 rich black cloth like threads of spun glass. The head was raised, 

 and the beak slightly elevated in a very life-like attitude ; the 

 body rested on one leg, which stood on a little gilt log, modeled 

 in papier-mache, and the other foot was held up near the breast 

 in an attitude characteristic of the herons. The effect as a 

 whole was charming. There was nothing gaudy, nor cheap, 

 nor hard in the arrangement, and the idea was a great suc- 

 cess. The receiving-frame used by Mr. Webster was also his 

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