METHODS IX THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 129 



They are ihe embodiment of all that is graceful and beautiful in bird- 

 life. Groups of herons can be poised in attitudes sufficiently varied 

 to illustrate every phase in their life history. A male and female with 

 young, for example, may be arranged about their flat nest of sticks on 

 the trunk of a tree ; on the ground one may be standing on one leg 

 with its head resting upon its shoulders, another preening his plumes, 

 while his neighbor is silently watching for prey in the shallow water, 

 and another with outstretched neck, legs and wings has taken flight 

 over the marsh of reeds and rushes. 



A solitary Wood Ibis on a stump in a lonely swamp, with a 

 painted background, is, when properly delineated, one of the most pic- 

 turesque scenes the taxidermist can devise (Fig. 4, Plate XXXIII). 



The hawks, figured in Plates XXXV and XXXVI, illustrate some 

 striking attitudes of the various species. In museum groups it does 

 well enough to arrange some of these birds in the " spread-eagle 

 style," but for the most part they should be mounted so as to exhibit 

 some peculiar trait or characteristic of the species. Passive attitudes 

 are preferable for owls. Some of the best positions, however, in 

 which I have seen these birds placed are those representing anger, 

 similar to the Great Horned Owl when attacked by other birds (Fig. 

 2, Plate XXX\'III). When more fiercely enraged the feathers of his 

 breast, wings and back stand out loosely, his head is drawn in and the 

 bill is open in the act of snapping. The best method to obtain these 

 results is described on page 96. 



Owls with young in the hollows of trees represent a striking and 

 picturesque scene. Groups of birds of any class, when arranged with 

 due regard to their forms, attitudes aud natural surroundings are, in 

 themselves, intensely interesting and instructive. 



The excellence of all groups is judged according to the qualities 

 found in the following points : Forni^ attitude^ naturalness of colored 

 par is ^ adjiestmeni of wings ^ angle of legs., centre of gravity^ smoothness., 

 neatness of finish^ quality and arrangement of natural or artificial sur- 

 roundings. If your conceptions of all these have the touch of the true 

 artist and student of nature your work will be admired and studied by 

 the most indifferent observer. 



Where the design is to promote the knowledge of the peculiarities 

 of a species there is nothing which will assist more quickly in throw- 

 ing light on its life habits than to see the specimen elegantly mounted 

 in its natural surroundings. The more elaborate and costly the flower, 

 branch, rock or ground-work, the more impressive it will be. The 

 work on the specimen, however, must correspond to the accessories 



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