How to Mount a Bird. 849 



GOLDEN EAGLE. 



ward, and the lower curve is made. In shaping the upper part of 

 the neck, the mistake is frequently made of crooking the neck itself 

 too much, whereas it should be curved but little, the effect being 

 produced by bending the head sharply downward. If these instruc- 

 tions seem somewhat prolix, believe me they are not too much so, 

 for a common fault of works in taxidermy is that they are deficient 

 in detail and fail to draw attention to the little points whereon 

 hinges the success of the completed work. Now see if the eyes are 

 in the same plane, and not one higher than the other, and look to it 

 that the center of gravity is all right. Your bird should look as if 

 he were resting on perch or pedestal, and not as if he would pitch 

 forward were the wires removed. Having settled these two points 

 satisfactorily, proceed with the wings, the first step being to get their 

 tips even. Living birds often carry their wings in a very slovenl) 

 manner, but they rarely have their tips out of line. The frequency 

 with which one wing will insist on coming out wrong is more 

 remarkable than amusing ; and it occasionally requires the outlay of 

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