43 
0]sr THE PLACING AND WINDING OF BIRDs’ FEATHERS 
casilj'’ TGiTiaiii in placG on tlio pins and not slide down. This will 
serve as a shoulder for the winding thread to rest on, and in this 
way all the pressure necessary to bring the feathers to a good 
outline will be easily seciii*ed. 
Nearly every taxidermist employs some means of binding a 
bird’s feathers, but very few seem to know how essential it is to 
properly attend to it. Much of the smoothness depends upon this, 
and in no other way can an artistic outline be secured. Too inucli 
stress can not be brought to bear upon the necessity of the 
employment of a sufficient number of wires or pins, and their 
proper adjustment in the different parts of the body. 
I have never seen in any taxidermist’s iintinished pieces, what 
I consider a sufficient inimber of wires. Usually one is placed in 
the back and one in the belly, and these often without a hook on 
the end. If a bird is to have a natural shape it is absolutely neces- 
sary to employ at least seven or eight wires, and they should be 
adjusted in the body as in the accompanying cut (see tig. 1 and 3) 
which will show the efficient and inefficient manner of arrangement. 
To secm-e the wings to the body three wires are required to each 
wing, which should be secured as follows : Grasp the shoulder of 
the wino^ ivith one hand and with the other force a wire about an 
inch and a half through it, just at a point where there is a small 
space between the radius and ulna, close to the forearm. This 
point is the best place, as it neither separates the primaries nor 
gives the wing an ugly twist when placed against the body, and 
further it allows the wing to be easily brought forward or pushed 
backwards after it is wired to the body. 
The wire is now supposed to be sticking through the wing. 
Adjust the wing in the jiroper place, not too low down on the 
side of the bird, vrhich is a general fault, or too far back which 
is equally bad. There is a troublesome spot just at the shoulder 
of the wing, and is at best a difficult matter to overcome, viz ; 
a tuft of feathers which insists on puffing out, or sticking up 
or down, and generall}^ gives the beginner a. great deal of 
annoyance. 
This is usually caused by the filling being crowded into a 
spot that should have none at all, but on the contrary puckered 
in. The idea of the amateur is, that it can be made smooth by 
spreading it out, which is a great mistake. 
