METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. -^ 



tude, and with a long lead-pencil mark the entire ontline of the quad- 

 ruped. Take plenty of time, study your subject, and make this diagram 

 with great accuracy. You can hardly estimate the value of this outline ; 

 its use is the next best thing to a cast when you come to mount your 

 specimen. Any taxidermist will heartily thank you for your pains- 

 taking if a sketch like this accompanies the skin. 



Seasons for Collecting — BiRDS: Any month in the year is suit- 

 able for collecting birds in the temperate zone. Spring and fall, how- 

 ever, are the ornithological harvest times; for these are the periods of 

 migration with most birds, and at these seasons they are the most 

 abundant. In the United States, during the months of July and 

 August the young are not fully feathered and the old are moulting. 

 December and January are the best months for collecting hawks and 

 owls, for most of these breed in February and March. In tropical lati- 

 tudes the dry season is the best; in the Arctic regions, midsummer. 



Mammals : From the first fall months to February is the season 

 for collecting mammals in temperate latitudes, but December and Jan- 

 uary will find many of them in the finest fur. The young may be col- 

 lected from May to August. They are of interest, but should not be 

 taken when too young, before they are sufficiently developed to be 

 typical representatives of S^i^ young of a species. 



Guns, and Modes of Capturing Specimens. — The gun offers the 

 most certain method of obtaining specimens, and is, in most cases, the 

 only one that can be pursued with much probability of success. Strych- 

 nine placed in portions of carcasses and in pieces of meat brings down 

 many a wolf, fox, eagle, etc. For procuring small mammals and birds, 

 traps of various kinds are often employed, but ordinarily firearms are re- 

 sorted to. The selection of a gun depends largely upon the means of the 

 collector, if not upon his preference. If he is addicted to the use of 

 first-class instruments, he will purchase a No. 10 or 12 gauge hammer- 

 less breech-loader, for hunting large birds and small mammals. For 

 large birds and small mammals I use a Xo. 12 hammerlcss gun ; for 

 the smaller birds I have a No. 20, with which I have killed large hawks 

 and owls, and it seems to be a good all-around weapon, as also is a No. 

 32 breech-loader, which I use with success on the smaller birds. The 

 Frank Blake Webster Company, of Hyde Park, Mass., has just placed 

 on the market a No. 32 auxiliary barrel or tube, which fits in either a 

 No. 10 or No. 12 gauge breech-loader. It is provided with brass shells, 

 which can be reloaded at a trifling cost. With this tube inserted in 

 one barrel, and its shells loaded with mustard-seed ; the other barrel 

 reserved with shells containing coarse shot, you are prepared for birds 



