METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. q- 



shift the leg-irons into either one of these holes which will suit the 

 position of the leg best. Even after your manikin is standing com- 

 plete it is an easy matter to change the position of the leg forward or 

 backward by this simple device. Place one nut on the threaded end 

 of the leg-irons, so that it will come below on the iron square, and, 

 having adjusted the leg-iron to place, screw the nut on top firmly down 

 on the square. Make the side of the square which is to hold the leg- 

 irons broad enough so that the legs will be held out from the center 

 board sufficiently far enough to make the proper thickness of the body. 

 I shall speak more of the value of this square in the mounting of quad- 

 rupeds. For additional strength you can place blocks snugly under- 

 neath the leg-irons and fasten them on the center board and then drive 

 staples over the leg-irons into the blocks. Tie the leg-bones to the 

 rods with wire — copper is best. Now fasten a heavy size of annealed 

 or copper wire on the center board for the neck support, and, after 

 cleaning the neck vertebrae thoroughly, string it all on this neck-wire. 

 Now form the body of tow or excelsior ; make it solid by sewing through 

 and through with a long needle and strong twine, and model the whole 

 in clay containing chopped tow and a thin glue liquid. Form the 

 large muscles of the leg in a similar manner. Replace the flesh of the 

 oeck and the windpipe with a wrapping of fine tow and a coating of 

 the clay. You will discover that you can form the muscles around the 

 head better with clay than you can with any other substance. Do this 

 through the opening which you have made in the back of the head and 

 neck. The manikin at this stage is ready for the skin. The tendons 

 and muscles of the legs to the ends of the toes should be replaced 

 with clay and sewn up. 



It will be seen from the above that all colossal birds are mounted on 

 what we shall term the dervwplastic method — the skin being arranged 

 over a clay-covered manikin, as is the case with the large and the 

 short-haired mammals. 



Legs in Raptores. — The best mounted hawks, eagles and owls 

 I ever saw were those mounted with all the leg-bones remaining at- 

 tached to one another. Take for example the illustrations in Plate 

 XX. If you will carefully examine each one of the figures you will 

 see at once the philosophy of the whole arrangement. By leaving the 

 femur and tibia connected and replacing the muscles nicely with fine 

 tow and anchoring the wire at a point where the femur is attached to 

 the body, you can bend the leg into shape, as seen in Fig. 1. This 

 method gives to the legs the prominence which is characteristic of 

 those parts in the Raptores.^ or birds of prey. vShould you prefer, in 



