846 



How to Mount a Bird. 



HEAD OF SAIGA. 



together, no one more than another ; and it must be your aim to 

 secure this beautiful uniformity. Now begin at the lower part of the 

 opening and sew up the cut, inserting a little filling — cut tow — from 

 time to time in such places as may want it. You will very likely 

 need some around the base of the tail, and assuredly some around 

 and above the. knees, to imitate the thighs and join the legs smoothly 

 to the body. Possibly there will be some wanted on the breast ; 

 although this will not be the case if you have made the body cor- 

 rectly. Do not be surprised if in sewing up the opening you cannot 

 quite make the edges of the cut meet. The skin — especially of thin- 

 skinned birds — dries and shrinks here very rapidly, and nature has 

 kindly provided birds with feathers which conceal many of the short- 

 comings of the taxidermist. But in ducks and other birds with thick 

 skins and short, dense feathers you must make both sides meet. 

 Apparently, the bird is now nearly finished, but in reality it is very far 



