196 TAXIDERMY AND MODELLING 



Even the preceding method, differing but little from that 

 previously described for mammals, does not fully educate the 

 learner into the niceties of form and pose, and, indeed, one of 

 the prime reasons why taxidermists and others fail in the 

 correct form of a bird and the relation of parts to a whole is — 

 as regards perception of form — want of artistic training, but 

 there is no doubt, even given a fair knowledge of easy and 

 natural outlines, that the greatest shortcoming is want of ana- 

 tomical knowledge, and the conclusion is irresistibly borne 

 in upon one that, without some elementary knowledge in 

 this direction, the taxidermist is but a bungler, and will 

 remain so until the end of his days. Let a bird be watched 

 when standing, walking, perching, or in any position, and 

 one thing is strikingly manifest, viz. balance, that is to say, 

 the body is perfectly balanced about its centre upon the legs ; 

 yet, take the work of nine hundred and ninety-nine amateurs 

 out of a thousand, and this self-evident law is utterly and 

 absurdly ignored ; the legs are always too far back, so much 

 so that the bird could not stand one moment in the attitude 

 in which the " stuffer " and his wires place it, but would immedi- 

 ately tumble upon its beak ; at other times the " stuffer," dimly 

 conscious that something is wrong, elevates a bird's chest and 

 beak to the skies, and then the unfortunate creature appears as if 

 a gentle puff of wind would cause it to fall backwards upon its 

 tail, and it really seems as if the ordinary taxidermist takes 

 especial care to get the legs of his specimens as far back under 

 the tail as possible, and these faults are so frequent, and so 

 little recognised, that a method has been devised, which, 

 supplementing the teaching of the skeleton, is, although a little 

 tedious and requiring care, a fine lesson, and turns out a bird 

 absolutely correct in its relation of one part to another, and in 

 shape and size (see Plate XI.). 



A bird being laid upon the table, strip the feathers from 



