58 



Guide to Taxidermy 



also to take the place of the muscles that you re- 

 moved from the leg. 



The position in which the leg wires are anchored 

 to the body varies considerably with the position 

 of the bird, but for a specimen in an ordinary 

 perching attitude, you should thrust the wire 

 through the body at a point about midway and a lit- 

 tle nearer the breast than the back, hook the pro- 

 truding end of this wire and clinch the same as you 

 did the neck wire. Both legs are of cuurse wired 

 precisely alike. 



Wirind the Tail 



During the process of wiring both the legs and 

 the tail, the specimen lays upon its back upon your 

 bench. The fourth wire is pushed through the 

 roots of the tail from outside, enters the body in 

 center of the small end and passes out through the 

 breast where it is turned and clinched ; the end pro- 

 truding beyond the tail is now turned sharply at 

 right angles to one side and then doubled back upon 

 itself, from a point slightly outside the outer tail 

 feathers ; it thus forms a platform to hold the bird's 

 tail in any position desired while drying. 



