SETTING THE BIRD. 87 
if you have stuffed correctly and wired securely, it will soon 
improve. Begin by making it stand properly. The common 
fault here is placing the tarsi too nearly perpendicular. Perch- 
ing birds, constituting the majority, habitually stand with the 
tarsi more nearly horizontal than perpendicular, and generally 
keep the tarsi parallel with each other. Wading and most 
walking birds stand with the legs more nearly upright and 
straight. Many swimming birds straddle a little; others 
rarely if ever. See that the toes clasp the perch naturally, or . 
are properly spread on the flat surface. Cause the flank feath- 
ers to be correctly adjusted over the tibiz (and here I will 
remark that with most birds little, if any, of the tibize shows 
in life) the heel joint barely, if at all, projecting from the gen- 
eral plumage. It is a common fault of stuffing not to draw 
the legs closely enough to the body. Above all, look out for 
the centre of gravity ; though you have really fastened the bird to 
its perch, you must not let it look as if it would fall off if the 
wires slipped; it must appear to rest there of its own accord. 
Next, give the-head and neck a preliminary setting, according 
to the attitude you have determined upon. This will bring the 
plumage about the shoulders in proper position for the setting 
of the wings, to which you may at once attend. If the body 
be correctly fashioned and the skin of the shoulders only ad- 
justed over it, the wings will fold into place without the slight- 
est difficulty. All that I have said before about setting the 
wings in a skin applies here as well; but in this case they will 
not stay in place since they fall by their own weight. They 
must be pinned up. Holding the wing in place thrust a pin 
steadily through, near the wrist joint, into the tow body. ' 
Sometimes another pin is required to support the weight of the 
primaries; it may be stuck into the flank of the bird, the - 
outer quill feather resting directly upon it. With large birds - 
a sharp pointed wire must replace the pin. When properly set 
the wing tips will fall together or symmetrically opposite each 
other, the quills and coverts will be smoothly imbricated, the 
scapular series of feathers will lie close, and no bare space 
will show in front of the shoulder. Much depends upon the 
