842 



How to Mount a Bird. 



SCARLET IBIS AND YOUNG CROCODILE. 



in precisely the same manner as are the legs, — hereafter to be 

 described, — only, of course, the wing wires must be clinched first. 

 Avoid the common mistake of starting the wings from the sides of 

 the body, and place them well up on the back. 



Now, with the body of the bird lying before you, proceed to make 

 one of excelsior to replace it. Note well the general shape of the 

 natural body, but do not imagine that it is necessary to accurately 

 copy it. Your work is to be externally and not internally correct, 

 and what is wanted is the easiest and best method to make it 

 fair to look upon. In ducks and water-birds generally the body is 

 flattened from above downward ; in waders it is flattened sidewise ; 

 while in most others it is rather rounded. Mold the excelsior between 

 the palms of your hands, and wind it tightly with fine twine or stout 

 thread, adding a little material here and there to bring about the 

 desired shape. Let the finished body be smooth, a trifle narrower on 

 the back than on the breast, and let it be a little more pointed at the 

 tail than the original. Above all things, make it firm and hard, for 

 on the solidity of the body depends the stability of the bird and its 



ability to undergo without flinch- 

 ing the twists and pulls it must 

 undergo in posing. Try it in 

 the skin, and if it does not fit, 

 make any required alterations. 



HOW THE WING IS WIRED. 



