72 



Guide to Taxidermy 





outlined before. Place your bird on a stand, bear- 

 ing in mind that if it is to be susjDended as if flying 

 the legs will be bent up under the breast, while if it 

 is to be placed on a stump the legs will be in a nor- 

 mal perching position. 



Bend the wings upward and backward at the 

 shoulder close to the body, forward at the elbow 

 joint and backward again at the wrist, the amount 

 of bend depending upon whether you want the 

 bird with the wings full spread, half spread or just 

 raised. 



Insert two pins or sharpened wires on each side 

 of the body under the wings. These are to wind to. 

 Bend the head and tail as you want them, pick the 

 feathers into position with the tweezers and make 

 sure that all the wing feathers lap the right way. 



Wind the under part of the body, passing the 

 thread from side to side about the pins inserted for 

 that purpose ; it is also well to insert a wire between 

 the shoulders on the back, and wind from this 

 around the breast; this holds the scapulars in po- 

 sition. Fill out the liead if it needs it, form the eye- 

 lids into shape and wire the tail. The wing feathers 

 are to be kept in correct position by means of two 



