J2 MANUAL OF TAXIDERMY. 



hand to the work before him let him fully decide 

 what he wishes to produce. Let him see it just 

 as clearly as he sees the birds sporting in their 

 natural element. The true artist does not copy 

 what the imagination of others have produced, he 

 invents for himself or takes nature as his guide. 

 Let us then who aspire to the highest in taxider- 

 mal art, take infallible nature as our guide. 

 Study carefully every poise of the birds, every 

 uplifting of the wing, every turn of the head or 

 motion of the eyelids. I have long made a prac- 

 tice of keeping birds in confinement in order to 

 thoroughly impress on my mind the different 

 attitudes which they assume. I have had nearly 

 all species of our owls, hawks, and eagles, and 

 have kept herons, gulls, terns, pelicans, auks, and 

 almost countless numbers of smaller birds, and 

 in this way I have become so familiar with them 

 that I can tell at a glance whether a bird is 

 mounted in an easy attitude. Well, there must be 

 no hesitation in mounting birds, or the specimens 

 will dry ; and I will merely state in what order I 

 arrange the different members, then leave the 

 attitudes to my pupils. I first see that the bird 

 stands correctly, that the legs are bent so that the 

 bird will balance well in the position in which I 



