- , METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



(which is about the right size for the robin), two of them twice as 

 long as the entire leg, the third long enough to encircle the body 

 lengthwise and extend about an inch and a half beyond the natural 

 neck, as is seen in Plate XIII, Fig. 3. With a file sharpen these wires 

 at one end ; make them very sharp, and smooth them off with fine 

 sandpaper. Now encircle the body lengthwise with the longest wire, 

 the sharpened end extending at least an inch and a half beyond the 

 length of the natural neck, as seen in Plate XIII, Fig. 3. Turn the 

 wire over and clinch it at the base of the neck ( Plate XIII, Figs. 3 

 and 4), using considerable force with flat-nosed pliers. You now have 

 the exact shape of the body lengthwise, which is figured in Plate XIII, 

 Fig. 4. Take a sufficient amount of tow to make an artificial body, 

 and form it firmly with your hands until it is about the size of the 

 natural carcass, which is lying before you. Place this tow which you 

 have thus moulded in the wire frame (Plate XIII, Fig. 4). With 

 needle and strong thread sew it through and through, and also sew the 

 wire to the tow all the way around (Plate XIII, Figs. 5, 6 and 7). 

 Take a pair of calipers and measure W\^ natural body carefully, and 

 make the artificial one exactly like it. Imitate every characteristic of 

 the natural carcass in the artificial one. Sew through and through the 

 artificial body, and make a hollow for the wings to lie in, as seen in Fig. 

 7, Plate XIII. In a word, imitate nature as closely as possible. Fig- 

 ures 5, 6 and 7 will sufficiently illustrate how this should be done.' 

 Now, the next procedure is to sew the wings to the side of the skin 

 so that they will hold firmly to the skin and in exactly the proper place 

 when the bird is mounted. First of all, pull the double wing-bones on 

 the inside of the skin ; sew through the bare place in the side of the 

 skin, now through the wing at the fingers, and back again into the 

 skin, and tie it firmly on the inside. This operation is clearly shown in 



1. Making Artificial Bodies for Birds. — I cannot impress the beginner too forcibly on the importance of 

 making tlie arlUicial bodies lor lurds as nearly like the natural ones, both in size and shape, as is possible to make 

 ttiem. After skinning a bird study the carcass critically ; note its characteristic shape; observe the hollows where 

 the wings lie; measure it with the calipers all over, measure its circumference around the breast and abdomen, 

 and try to copy the natural body in every detail by sewing it through and through with needle and thread, bring- 

 ing out in the artificial body every characteristic elevation and hollow. If the artificial body is made with 

 extreme accuracy and the leg and wing bones carefully adjusted to their places, there will be very few stubborn 

 feathers sticking up out of place and the plumage will require little or no winding down. 



Make the false body for all birds, exxept for such as the ostrich, exactly as I have described for the robin. 

 There is a difference, however, in forming the necks in long-necked birds which will be treated separately in its 

 proper i)lace. In large birds you can use e.vcelsior or straw for the core and tow on the outside. Many taxider- 

 mists use straw or excelsior alone. In making huge bodies a long needle and strong twine is necessary to sew 

 them throush and through. While it has been advised that the beginner measure every portion of a bird's body 

 with calipers in order that the artificial body may be made with accuracy, there is one measurement which, with 

 sufficient experience, really need not be taken. It is the one illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, Plate XIII. Vou will 

 oliserve that by encircling the natural body lengthwise with the body-wire you obtain, when carefully done, the 

 exact shape and size of body lengthwise. It is one of the beauties of this method of mounting birds. 



