96 



METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



the iv^Lial way, to detach the bones at the knee in the rapacious birds, 

 and vet desire to develop the femur, you can anchor the wire where 

 the femur joins the body, draw the leg out on the wire and leave it the 

 length of the femur inside the skin, bend at the knee-joint and fill in 

 around the wire to make the muscles of the femur the right size. 

 Figs. .') and 4 of the hawk and owl with the imaginary outline of 

 feathers will give a very clear idea how the legs and wings are 

 placed in these birds and how the leg-wires should be inserted and 

 bent. 



More About Mounting Hawks, Owls, etc, — Tl\ere appears to be as 

 much mechanical ingenuity required in the mounting of hawks, owls, 

 etc., as there is in the construction of the manikin for the ostrich. 

 The following is another method of Dr. Theodore Jasper for obtaining 

 a more life-like appearance in hawks and owls when they are to be 

 represented in anger (Plate XXXVIII, Fig. 2) at which time the 

 feathers of the breast, back and wings stand out loosely. When the 

 bird has been skinned, thoroughly poisoned, and is ready for the false 

 bodv, give the inside of the skin a very thick coating of potter's clay, 

 especially along the spinal or dorsal tract of the back (Fig. 4, B, Plate 

 VIII) and along the ventral tract of the breast or underparts (Fig. 7, 

 A, Plate 8). Cover this clay-coating with any kind of old, thin cloth 

 in order to keep it from adhering to the artificial body when inserted. 

 The clay acts as a cushion in which the ends of the quills rest and 

 when the feathers are lifted and arranged in any position, they will re- 

 main so without any other support. When a bird is to be represented 

 in a fierce and enraged attitude, at which time the feathers stand out 

 all over the body, there is no other method in the world better than 

 this. It also makes a more lasting piece of work. 



Stepping and Running Attitudes. — Some of the worst examples 

 of bird-mounting are to be seen in those specimens which taxidermists 

 attempt to pose in the act of stepping or running. Let us examine 

 the arrangement of the legs in Figs. 4 and 5, Plate XV. If you could 

 turn the femur ia) completely around like a clock-hand it would of 

 course describe a circle. In life, however, the femur can move just so 

 far and no farther. If you will examine the natural body after skin- 

 ning the bird and move the femur as far as possible up and down you 

 will discover that it cannot describe more than one-quarter of a circle, as 

 seen in Fig. 4 r to rt'iu our plate. If the bird is to make a long stride the 

 leg that is to drop backward should be anchored very low down in the 

 artificial body, and the one which is to come forward should be placed 

 high up in the circle (see Figs. 4 and 5). The pose of the body has 



