
(aN a atcha eons 

PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS, 
nests will be found. There also the reed-warblers build a nest, 
which they suspend by means of a glutinous clay to the stumps 
of four reeds, adjusted to it so exactly, that while it almost 
touches the water, the most boisterous wind rarely immerses it. 
The water-ouzel builds a nest and lives in it under some old 
mossy bank overhanging the water of some running stream, 
and in similar situations the kingfishers are found to nestle 
under the bank—sometimes in the hole of a water-rat. 
Nests and eggs are somewhat foreign to my present pursuit, 
but I cannot avoid giving a word of advice on this subject. 
Both are important accessories to mounting birds, and I 
find great advantage in using the real nest and eggs in that 
way; unfortunately the nests are generally too bulky to be 
easily moved. I find the most convenient way of preserving 
the nest is to wrap cotton round it until I get home. As 
for the eggs, I dispose of them for the moment in round 
wooden boxes filled with cotton-wool, which I provide myself 
with for the purpose. On reaching home, I take the eggs 
and bore a small hole at each end with a small drill, which I 
make myself by filmg a piece of wire to four square sides, 
and then to a sharp pomt; having drilled a hole with this 
point, I blow out the contents of the egg with a small pointed 
blow-pipe and place a label over the hole containing the name 
of the bird. I recommend the young collector to do what I 
did—place the eggs back in the nest until he gets perfectly 
acquainted with it. In this manner I preserved, and made 
myself acquainted with a large collection of good eggs. 
While on this subject I may mention some of the various 
places m which many birds construct their nests, so that the 
learner may have some idea where to look for such birds or 
eggs as he may require. ‘The kestrel and sparrow-hawk 
usually build im trees in woods, or they take the deserted 
nest of a rook or crow; owls, woodpeckers, titmice, wrynecks, 
nuthatches, and starlings, frequently build in the hollows of 
old trees ; blackbirds and thrushes in old stumps, a little above 
a bank near to some watercourse; nightingales nestle among 
the dead leaves at the bottom of a thick hedge, requiring sharp 
eyes to distinguish them from the mass of leaves; the missel- 
thrush, or storm-cock, as he is sometimes called, chaffinches, 
goldfinches, and greenfinches, build in orchards, near dwelling- 
houses; while the larger falccns and eagles build on precipitous 
and nearly inaccessible rocks. 
The kind of cabinet I would recommend for eggs is a stout 
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