Fig. 4.
All body wrapping must be firm so that wires set in it will not be loose and cause the specimen to wobble.
Next cut the neck, wing, and leg wires. Cut neck wire three times natural length, wing wires twice natural length, and leg wires three times natural length. In the neck use a size wire that will support the head firmly and still be easy to manipulate.
If the wings are to be closed, use light wire in them. If to be spread, use strong wire to support with no wobbling. In the legs use as large wire as will go easily through the tarsus and not rip the skin open, to insure rigidity in the finished specimen. Use galvanized soft steel wires if possible. If ordinary black iron wire is used it should be waxed before placing. For the tail cut one wire of a length to go half way through the body and leave enough protruding to allow of handily setting tail into position.
Cut six or eight medium wires, twice length of thickness of body, for wing pinning and feather wrapping, if either or both of these are found necessary. Make cornered points on wires. Sharpen neck- and wing-wires at both ends, leg, tail, and pinning-wires at one end.
Fig. 5.