ON PRESERVING BIRDS. 335 



cotton, forming a sloping plane. Make a mode- PRESERVING 

 rate hollow in it to receive the bird. Now take the ~ 

 hawk in your hands, and, after putting the wings 

 in order, place it in the cotton, with its legs in a 

 sitting posture. The head will fall down. Never 

 mind. Get a cork, and run three pins into the 

 end, just like a three-legged stool. Place it 

 under the bird's bill, and run the needle, which 

 you formerly fixed there, into the head of the 

 cork. This will support the bird's head admi- 

 rably. If you wish to lengthen the neck, raise 

 the cork, by putting more cotton under it. If 

 the head is to be brought forward, bring the 

 cork nearer to the end of the box. If it re- 

 quires to be set backwards on the shoulders, 

 move back the cork. 



As in drying, the back part of the neck will 

 shrink more than the forepart, and thus throw 

 the beak higher than you with it to be, putting 

 you in mind of a stargazing horse, prevent this 

 fault, by tying a thread to the beak, and fasten- 

 ing it to the end of the box with a pin or needle. 

 If you choose to elevate the wings, do so, and 

 support them with cotton ; and should you wish 

 to have them particularly high, apply a little 

 stick under each wing, and fasten the end of 

 them to the side of the box with a little bees' wax. 



If you would have the tail expanded, reverse 

 the order of the feathers, beginning from the two 

 middle ones. When dry, replace them in their 



