ooQ METHODS IN THE ART OF TAXIDERMY. 



Mammal and Bird Medallions. — One of the finest ways to 

 display a bird to be represented as dead is on a panel. Bunches of 

 snipe, duck, geese and grouse prepared in this way make handsome 

 dining-room ornaments. Squirrels, rabbits and other small mammals 

 may be arranged in the same manner. Be sure that your specimen 

 looks dead. In order to do this with accuracy you must hang the 

 specimen up before skinning it and study it caiefully. 



A bird medallion may be made by mounting one-half of a bird on 

 a back ground of suitable color. If, for instance, the bird is white, a 

 black velvet back-ground is the proper color. 



Mr. Frederic S. Webster's style of bird medallions surpasses any- 

 thing of the kind that has been designed. The entire bird is mounted. 

 In preparing a snowy heron, for example, the back-ground is of vel- 

 vet ; it is surrounded with a deep, massive frame with a glass top. The 

 heron is standing on a gilt log. Mr. Webster's exquisite skill and 

 taste in the preparation of the specimen make these bird medallions 

 all that the most critical in art can desire in this line. 



An Arctic hare medallion, prepared by j\Ir. Webster and exhibited 

 at the third annual exhibition of the vSociety of American Taxider- 

 mists, was the first mammal medallion ever made. 



Miscellaneous. — A very desirable wall ornament may be made by 

 carving and gilding a crescent and placing an owl on the point, as is 

 shown in Plate LXXXVIII. 



Mr. Frank B. Webster's " Wounded Great Black-back Gull " in 

 Plate LXXXVII is an example of a table-piece in the writer's museum. 

 It is a fine piece of work, beautifully and skillfully executed. 



If it is desired to prepare single birds of any kind for the top of 

 book cases, on wall brackets, etc., they may be placed on turned stands, 

 or pedestals more or Iciss elaborately made to suit the design and the 

 location they are to occupy. 



Frogs mounted to caricature man make some of the most amusing 

 subjects the taxidermist can prepare. All imaginable human atti 

 tudes may be given them ; groups representing negro minstrels on 

 stools, the end-men holding their tambourines as when playing; frogs 

 playing leap-frog; billiards, fencing, dueling, smoking, etc. The 

 best work I have ever seen of this nature is that done by Mr. J. F. 

 D. Bailly. On page 294 I give full directions for the skinning and 

 mounting of frogs, and the system of wiring of these is illustrated in 

 Plate LXXXI. 



The mounting of mammal heads, so desirable for the decoration 

 of halls and dining-rooms, is fully treated in Chapter XII. 



