lOO METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



a great deal to do with the natural attitude of the bird arranged in this 

 position. If you are to place the bird in a running attitude, with the 

 toes of one foot barely touching the ground, sharpen both ends of the 

 wire which is to support the leg whose toes are thus to be adjusted. 

 Instead of forcing it up through the sole, pass the wire on the inside of 

 the skin of the leg clear to the end of the middle toe, as seen in Fig. 5. 

 When the bird is fastened on a stand, no wire leg-supports are visible. 

 This is also illustrated in Plate XLI. 



While this automatic principle is found in all birds, it is more 

 noticeable in long-legged ones, and by the application of these princi- 

 ples, formed on the basis- of the natural structure, any attitude or angle 

 can be obtained ; whether the bird is gracefully stooping to drink or 

 running with outstretched legs. The same principle can be applied to 

 all the smaller birds. For example, the little warbler with one foot on 

 the top of a slanting twig and the other farther down the branch can, 

 with this method, be produced with most gratifying results. It is far 

 better than any of the methods which I have seen, for there is no 

 guess-work about it. 



Hummingbirds. — These diminutive creatures really require no 

 other treatment in skinning than that given for the robin in this chap- 

 ter, and illustrated in Plate X. There is, however, so little flesh in 

 the wings of a hummingbird that many taxidermists consider it un- 

 necessary to skin the wing farther than the full length of the humerus, 

 or upper arm bone. At this point the wings should be well poisoned 

 with the arsenical paste (see formula, page 34). The false body should 

 be made exactly as described for the robin and as illustrated in Plate 

 XIII. If the wings are to be spread a small wire should be run 

 through each wing into the body for support. The tail should be 

 spread with strips of thin card-board as seen in Plate XV, Fig. 3. The 

 bird should be placed in a bed of clean sheet cotton and the feathers 

 of the wings and tail spread and nicely adjusted. Groups of these 

 tiny birds may be mounted with the wings spread, or in various other 

 attitudes. A pair may be mounted, one hovering over a flower or just 

 approaching the nest, while the other, male or female, may be arranged 

 in a quiet, sitting posture near the nest. The wire which supports 

 the hummingbird when flying is usually anchored in the body and 

 brought out immediately under the tail; when in a sitting attitude the 

 supporting wire is allowed to come farther forward in the body, the feet 

 being arranged on each side on the perch while the wire is hidden with 

 a small piece of moss or lichen. The accessories in the way of leaves, 

 branches, etc., for groups of hummingbirds should be natural and ele- 



