78 LIFE OF FLOWER 



in the " pavilion " at the end of the bird gallery, are due 

 to the initiation of Flower. This is far from being the 

 case; and he himself would have been the very last 

 man to claim credit which was not his due. As a 

 matter of fact, the idea of mounting birds in this manner 

 originated with Dr. Bowdler Sharpe during the Keeper- 

 ship of Dr. Giinther ; the first case installed on these 

 lines being the one containing the common coot. The 

 series was continued during Dr. Giinther's term of office, 

 and was kept up by Flower after his succession to the 

 Keepership. As regards the Bass Rock model, this was 

 also installed during Dr. Giinther's Keepership, and, I 

 believe, while Owen was Superintendent. "What Flower 

 did initiate in the bird gallery was the rearrangement of 

 the wall-cases on much the same lines as the mammal 

 galleries, including the rejection of duplicates and 

 uninteresting species, and the replacement of worn-out 

 and badly-mounted specimens, by new and artistically 

 set-up examples, and the addition of maps and descrip- 

 tive labels. As a matter of fact, the replacement and 

 remounting of specimens have been carried out to a 

 much greater extent among the birds than has been 

 found possible with the mammals. A large number of 

 the birds have been mounted by Cullingford of Durham, 

 whereas nearly all the mammals have been set up by 

 three London taxidermists, namely Rowland Ward, 

 Ltd., Gerrard, and Pickhardt. This plan of employing 

 several firms of taxidermists, instead of giving all the 

 work to one, was much favoured by Flower, as it 

 gave rise to a healthy competition and rivalry, and 

 thus produced better results ; the different firms 

 being kept up to the mark by having their names affixed 



