Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/270

Image missingFig. 150.Wiring the Leg. make the parts about the eye appear plump and natural. Push more cotton down the throat until it has a round, real look. For the legs use two pieces of wire, each sharpened at one end. The taxidermist must shove the wire through the ball of the foot and guide it with the other hand up along the side of the bones of the leg, the skin being turned back for that purpose (Fig. 150). This figure shows the leg with skin turned back, as it appears when the wire is pushed through.

Wind cotton around both wire and bone to the natural thickness of the thigh, and go through the same process with the other leg; then push the wires clear through the artificial body and bend the protruding ends into a hook form (Fig. 151). Taking hold at the part extending from the bottom of the foot, pull the wire of each leg down until the hooks fasten firmly into the body. Image missingFig. 151.Showing how Leg-Wire is attached to False stitches sew up the Body. The ends of the wires protruding from the foot are left to fasten the bird to its perch, which is done either by wrapping the wires around the perch or by thrusting them through holes made for the purpose and clinching the ends. With a few hole in the breast. For small birds this is not necessary. After your owl is set up in