96 Forest Birds. 



a few sprays made in wax are introduced here and 

 there, an approach to natural brightness is at once 

 produced. In the groups of ducks, which are set up 

 amongst reeds and grasses in the most natural 

 manner, the artists at the South Kensington Museum 

 have been especially successful ; and considering the 

 beauty of the cases exhibited in this museum, and 

 their educational value, it is a pity that compara- 

 tively so few people avail themselves of the oppor- 

 tunity thus offered of studying the habits and 

 appearance of the birds, which are there exhibited 

 in their natural breeding haunts. 



Although an amateur can readily obtain the 

 branch of a tree or shrub, upon which a bird has 

 built its nest, he cannot always cut down a tree, in 

 order to obtain a piece of the trunk, in which some 

 wood-boring bird has its nest. Nevertheless, with a 

 little trouble, the few square inches of the tree 

 which are of primary importance, if the group is to 

 be set up naturally, can usually be obtained, viz. 

 the entrance to the hole and its immediate 

 surroundings. The remaining portion of the trunk, 

 which is required for the case, can then be made up 

 upon a foundation of wood and brown paper. It 

 must be built up piece by piece of natural bark, 

 which is always obtainable, and moulded to the 

 desired form. This method is very tedious, but 



