Guide to Taxidermy 



Birds With Peculiar Attitudes 



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Nearly all species of birds have attitudes that 

 are characteristic. I would advise anyone to study 

 live birds all he can, especially as regards the dif- 

 ferent positions they will take ; if you are an adept 

 at sketching, draw off different positions of various 

 birds as you see them. Study well the positions of 

 the birds in this book. We are perfectly familiar 

 with every bird shown and can vouch for the accur- 

 acy of either drawings or mounted specimens. I 

 will call attention to a few points that you want to 

 know at the start. You will notice that a duck's 

 body and, in fact, those of all diving birds are flat- 

 tened rather than compressed ; their legs are set 

 wider apart. Grebes, Loons and Auks cannot stand 

 upon the sole of the foot but rest upon the whole 

 tarsus or heel, apparently as though sitting upon 

 their tail. Their legs are anchored to the body a 

 trifle nearer the smaller end than are the legs of 

 most birds ; the legs must then be bent backward 

 and then sharply forward at the ankle joint, leaving 

 this joint in close proximity to the tail. A similarly 

 shaped bird, the Puffin, does stand erect on its feet, 

 although it is often pictured as sitting upon the 

 heel and more often mounted that wav. 



