METHODS I.V THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. I 33 



be taken in at a glance. The innumerable rows of birds stand like 

 columns of immovable troops and leave but one impression — that of 

 immense numbers and their soldier-like appearance. 



It is gratifying to know, however, that a number of the principal 

 scientific museums of the world are breaking away from the old style 

 of mounting their zoological specimens, and we can now look upon 

 groups of mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes with surroundings which 

 are illustrative of their peculiar habits. It has been proven by the 

 groups in these museums that they are of as much interest to the 

 scientist as they are instructive to the public. In the British Museum 

 groups of birds are now being arranged with great care as to life-like 

 attitudes, while the surroundings are reproduced by natural and arti- 

 ficial accessories; many of the artificial plants and flowers being of a 

 rich and costly design. 



No person can visit the American ]\Iuseum of Natural History in 

 New York without being greatly impressed with the high order of 

 art infused into the bird groups arranged in that institution by Mr. 

 Jeuess Richardson. Every accessory that was necessary to make up 

 each one of these charming woodland scenes has either been carried 

 from the field of nature or manufactured to represent the natural 

 abode of the species. Among the studies which struck me most favora- 

 bly in this collection (and I must confess it is a mere matter of choice) 

 were the grouping and arrangement of some of our common birds. 

 The designs are all characteristic of the life-habits of the species they 

 represent, while the various forms and attitudes of the birds are all that 

 can possibly be desired. The nest has been collected on its branch with 

 its surroundings as well as the perforated tree-trunk, the home of the 

 woodpecker; the ground-nesting birds are at home in the tussocks of 

 grass, as natural as art can make them. These are chiefly arranged in 

 cases suitable to the size and design of the group. The cases are 

 placed on neat tables; the frame-work of these and the tables are 

 black or ebonized, giving to the whole an elegant finish. 



Our National Museum at Washington contains a number of these 

 highly interesting bird groups, all of which are most beautifully 

 wrought. Many of them are by members of the Society of American 

 Taxidermists. The mammal groups in this institution are the finest 

 to be seen in this country. The most notable of these, which I shall 

 mention in Chapter XI, are the work of Mr. William T. Hornaday, the 

 representative American taxidermist. While his line of work has been 

 chiefly confined to mammals he has likewise produced unexcelled 

 examples of mounted birds. I can recall one of his efforts which has 



