194 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



and the animal could not possibly see in front of its nose or bill 

 unless it protruded its eyes like a chameleon. 



Many persons insert the eyes whilst the bird is being set 

 up or directly afterwards, but the disadvantage of this is that, 

 should there be any shrinking of the face or any other part of 

 the head, the faults cannot easily be corrected, whereas, if the 

 eyes are left out, corrections may be made through the orbits, 

 if those parts be damped ; there is no doubt, therefore, that 

 the best plan is to let the animal dry first, and, after damping 

 the eyelids with cotton wool (wadding) dipped in warm water, 

 and replacing, by small pieces of clay rolled in wadding, any clay 

 which may have been dragged out, insert the eyes last, fixing 

 them in their proper positions, and pinning the eyelids up to 

 proper shape when required, with the finest entomological pins. 



DIVISION V 



THE MODELLING AND SETTING-UP OF BIRDS BY 

 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES 



Although the principles enunciated in the preceding pages 

 for the setting-up of birds are substantially correct, and are 

 those which usually obtain with trained professionals, yet it 

 must be evident, to both skilled and unskilled readers, that 

 success is largely, nay, indeed, entirely dependent upon great 

 skill and experience, and it is not too much to say that the 

 niceties of pose, and especially the shape of the body and 

 proper position of the head, wings, and legs are not fully 

 appreciated, even by those who get their living as taxidermists, 

 under a great number of years, and even then a great deal 

 depends upon ripe anatomical knowledge and outdoor observa- 

 tion. These facts are so patent to the educated mind, and 

 so subversive of any respect for what is really a pleasing art 

 and not a clown's pastime, that it was felt that students of 



