226 TAXIDERMY ATSTD ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



own design, called forth by the necessity of fully protecting 1 the 

 work. 



Other birds that became popular subjects for treatment in 

 this way were the wood duck, scarlet ibis, white ibis, roseate 

 spoonbill, English pheasant, and resplendent trogon. Of course 

 the color and quality of the material used as a background was 

 varied to suit the colors of each subject, but of all the materials 

 tried, plush proved to be most acceptable. 



HEADS. This subject has been fully discussed in another 

 chapter. An additional example, showing a particularly fine 

 head of a barren ground caribou, on a shield of a very artistic 

 pattern, is to be seen in Plate XVI., Fig. 3, the original of 

 which was mounted by Mr. William J. Critchley, and presented 

 to the Society, for its exhibit in the National Museum, by Pro- 

 fessor Henry A. Ward. 



SINGLE SPECIMENS. Eagles, owls, hawks, ravens, crows, her- 

 ons, ducks, grouse, and other game birds in general, mounted 

 singly, on either plain or fancy pedestals, make very interest- 

 ing and proper ornaments for the tops of book-cases, wall- 

 brackets, easels, and the like. Good examples of objects of this 

 class are represented in Plate XVI. as follows : Fig. 8, Bald 

 Eagle ; Fig. 7, " Frightened Owl," by Mr. John Wallace, of New 

 York City ; Fig. 15, Snowy Egret, by Mr. Thomas Rowland ; 

 and No. 9, Gray Squirrel, by Mr. P. W. Aldrich, of Boston. 



GROTESQUE GROUPS. No one who has ever visited one of the 

 exhibitions of the S. A. T. is likely to forget the exceedingly 

 droll and mirth-provoking groups of stuffed frogs, caricaturing 

 poor humanity, produced by Mr. J. F. D. Bailly, now of Mont- 

 real, Canada. As a humorist and satirist our old friend Bailly 

 has few equals, and, in conjunction with his fine mechanical 

 skill, his love of the ridiculous took permanent form in groups 

 of frogs. The frog seems to have been created for the especial 

 purpose of enabling Monsieur Bailly to caricature mankind. 

 The results must be seen to be appreciated. We have had 

 groups of frogs duelling, playing billiards, making love, get- 

 ting drunk, smoking, dancing, fishing, gaming, electioneering, 

 and what not. For frogs, however, there is only one taxider- 

 mist, for I have never seen anyone else, either French or Amer- 

 ican, who could even rival our old friend. He skinned every 



