134 



METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



always pleased me, entitled, " Does your mother know you're out?" 

 representing a Scarlet Ibis stalking along the bank of a tropical river; 

 he comes suddenly upon a tiny alligator which has just emerged from 

 its shell. Two other alligator eggs lie half buried in the sand ready 

 to hatch. This scene is arranged in a glass case of suitable dimen- 

 sions, and it has a painted background representing a picture in those 

 tropical regions which the Scarlet Ibis inhabits. 



Some of the most attractive bird groups in the National Museum 

 illustrating the peculiar habits of the species are those of the California 

 Woodpeckers and their store-house; Swallow-tailed Kite, feeding; 

 Carolina Paroquets, roosting; Prairie Chickens, courting; Jacanas, 

 walking on lily pads ; the curious Bower birds and their exquisitely 

 formed play-house ; the Lyre birds and the dancing mound of the 

 male; the dove-cot with a number of species of domestic pigeons in 

 characteristic active attitudes. These are all so charmingly and artis- 

 tically wrought that the most skillful critic would almost lose his crit- 

 ical powers upon beholding the striking likenesses they bear to the 

 ideal and the real. 



At the second exhibition of the Society of American Taxidermists 

 ]\Ir. Frederic S. Webster produced his well-known group entitled 

 " The Flamingo at Home." It is a group of three flamingos, and 

 near the edge of a tropical lagoon a female has built her elevated nest 

 of mud and grass, and, in a half standing posture, is covering her eggs. 

 The nest is of the conventional type, molded according to the descrip- 

 tion and measurements given by Audubon. At the left of the nest a 

 stately male flamingo on the bank is stepping into the water, while 

 on the right another large male bird is stooping down, intently watch- 

 ing a small turtle which has just been discovered at the bottom of the 

 water. The accessories, a dwarf palmetto and aquatic plants, are pur- 

 posely few in number, and many desirable features in color have been 

 omitted for the sake of preserving the entire naturalness of the sur- 

 roundings. 



In the frontispiece of this work will be seen a group of two flam- 

 ingos prepared by the writer on the same principle as those just 

 described. 



Mr. Frederic S. Webster's examples of single mounted specimens 

 and of groups may be cited as models of their kind, and they have 

 justly placed him in the front rank of the bird taxidermists of this 

 country. He has likewise won an equal reputation in the originality 

 of designs in artistic and ornamental taxidermy. 



Another one who has displayed skill and ability in taxidermy is 



