84 



METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



dant and compact than they are lower down, making the opening cut 

 along the breast more easy to close than- that along the abdominal 

 region, while the latter is preserved intact. 



Mounting Birds with Wings Spread. — In skinning a bird that is 

 to have its wings spread leave in all the wing-bones. Skin the humerus 

 down to the elbow, strip it of its flesh and open the forearm on 

 the outside underneath ; take out all the muscles and tendons, but 

 leave the secondaries attached to the ulna. This can be clearly seen 

 in Plate XIX, Fig. 7. Skin the bird otherwise as previously directed 

 in skinning the robin. The artificial body for birds J;hat are to have 

 the wings spread should be made solid and compact in order to secure 

 the many wires that must be thrust into it. In birds of prey the 

 muscles of the leg should be well developed. Make the artificial body 

 exactly like the natural one. If you will examine the skeleton of the 

 eagle in Plate IX you will observe that the humerus is attached to the 

 large stout bone called the coraciod, which joins the sternum or breast- 

 bone. There is always a neatly rounded hollow where you sever the 

 humerus from the coraciod bone. This must be emphasized strongly 

 in the artificial body as seen in Fig. 1, Plate XXI. It should be 

 strongly developed in all artificial bodies where all the wing-bones are 

 to remain intact. The wire which is to be used in the wing should be 

 well sandpapered and oiled in order that it may slip along the joints 

 of the wing and also through the cords which are to hold the wires close 

 to the bone. Sharpen the wire at both ends. It should be strong enough 

 to support the weight of the wing and long enough to project beyond 

 where the first primaries begin to grow, after having anchored it in the 

 body as represented in Fig. 5, Plate XXI. Make it perfectly straight 

 and polish it well. Lift the opening of the skin and pass the wire up 

 along the humerus and out between the ulna and radius to the carpal 

 joint, thence under the skin of the metacarpal bones, until it appears 

 where the first primaries begin to develop. All this is clearly shown 

 in Figs. 2 and 4, Plate XXI. Tie the wire to the humerus and to 

 the radius, and if you have properly skinned the wing as shown in 

 Fig, 7, Plate XIX, you may also tie the wire fast to the metacarpal 

 bones. In large birds the flesh around these bones should always be 

 taken out. Make the wire fit snugly against the wing-bones. Now fill 

 the neck with balls of tow to the proper length and thickness. Take 

 the artificial body in hand and force the neck-wire through these and 

 out in the center of the head as seen in Fig. 2, Plate XXI. Place the 

 knob of the humerus in the coraciod hollow which you have made in 

 the body, and force the wire through the body, and clinch or 



