SCIENTIFIC TAXIDERMY FOR MUSEUMS. 409 



grandeur of the scale upon which such work is executed. Their copies 

 are faithfully rendered in Plates xli and xlii, and to study them simply 

 means to excite our fullest admiration for such bold and truthful ren- 

 dering'. In Plate xli one of the birds is exhibited in full flight, and yet 

 the rocky wall behind him seems to be in contact with his tail, and, in- 

 asmuch as there is no perch for him to have pitched off of in full flight, 

 the question might naturally arise, going at the rate he apparently is, 

 whence did he come? The defect so apparent is probably due to the 

 picture itself, which does not represent the actual and necessary space 

 that exists between the sailing bird and the rocky cliff behind him. 



Such illustrations bring up to my mind the great question of the 

 amount of activity permissible in birds mounted for museum exhibi- 

 tion. My opinion in these premises can be briefly put. The great bulk 

 of individual specimens of small birds exhibited in the cases of a large 

 scientific zoological museum should be mounted up on the T of the 

 perch in one of the most common attitudes of the species; a slight dip- 

 ping forwards, or slight inclination of the head in some directiou, being 

 alone permissible. But this would give rise to great monotony, and to 

 break that we would advise a certain amount of activity in single spec- 

 imens. This should be accorded to those birds which normally are very 

 active in nature. With respect to groups of birds we may to a greater 

 extent indulge in arranging birds in different attitudes. At the best 

 this is what we would naturally look for anyway, for in groups of birds 

 the individuals composing it are more frequently mounted in the act 

 of performing something, either feeding their young or flying, or nest- 

 building, or some other avocation. Even violent action, as fighting 

 each other, or capturing their prey, may be introduced in a limited 

 number of groups. 



The scolding parrot, shown in Plate XLin, which, by the way, is a mas 

 tei-ly piece of work, is an excellent example of activity shown in a single 

 specimen, and this one subject would give relief to a dozen quiet par- 

 rots in the same case; or, for example, the other species, equally as well 

 rendered, shown in two views in I Mate xliv, Figs. 1 and 2. For ordinary 

 small birds the style shown for the female oriole in Plate lxxiii is some- 

 times desirable, especially when a bird is selected having such active hab- 

 its as the oriole has, and where the artist can succeed in reproducing one 

 of its more usual postures as well as has been done in the case of this 

 specimen. Otherwise it most certainly should not be attempted. But 

 the acme of all activity and of all grouping is reached when such artis- 

 tic pieces of work, so faithfully executed, so full of interest and all that 

 is natural, are set forth as the piece shown in Plate xlv. Mr. Adams 

 who both collected and mounted this most attractive thing, would cer- 

 tainly have "capped the climax" had he been able to have brought 

 home the very section of the tree in which that identical Ilornbill built 

 her nest. This part is artificial, having been built up of line papier- 

 mache ; but it is only fairly well done. It represents the male of one of the 



