PRESERVING BIRDSKINS. 75 



and was something like a coot's nest, large and strong in 

 structure. It contained four bluish eggs, two of which were 

 broken. 



" I tell you what, Frank," said Jimmy, " we must stuff 

 the hawk and weasel, and mount them just as they appeared 

 in the air. It will make a grand group. I am sorry for 

 the hawk, but it is a lucky find for us and our museum never- 

 theless." 



In the meantime they skinned the hawk and weasel, and 

 simply stuffed their skins with cotton-wool and laid them by in 

 the locker. It is not necessary to stuff birds in their natural 

 attitude to preserve them for a cabinet. They may be loosely 

 stuffed with cotton-wool and laid side by side in drawers and 

 labelled, just like eggs, and if at any -time afterwards it is 

 desired to set them up in life-like positions, the skins can 

 be softened by letting them lie for a few days in a damp 

 place. 



They sailed at a great rate down to Yarmouth, and brought 

 up just outside a row of wherries which were moored to the 

 quay. 



CHAPTER XL 



To the Rescue. A Long-tailed Tit's Nest. A Shower of Feathers. 



WHEN they had made all snug, they set out for a walk through 

 the town, and as the quay-side was not so pleasant as the open 

 country, they determined not to sleep on board the yacht this 

 night, but to sleep at an hotel. They therefore went to one 

 by the beach and engaged beds. They then ordered and ate 

 an uncommonly good dinner, at the close of which the waiter 

 intimated to them that he had never seen any young gentlemen 

 before who had such good appetites. After a due amount of 

 rest they set out for a stroll. Presently they met a boy with a 

 nest in his hand, which was evidently that of a long-tailed tit. 



