All these specimens have been cured and stuffed by Frank and Archie;
and, with the exception of the deer and wolves, they had killed them
all. The latter had been furnished by Archie's father. The boys had
never killed a deer, and he had promised to take them, during the
coming winter with him up into the northern part of the state, where
they would have an opportunity of trying their skill on the noble
game.

But the museum is not the only thing that has given Frank the name of
the "young naturalist." He is passionately fond of pets, and he has a
pole shanty behind the museum, which he keeps well stocked with
animals and birds. In one cage he has a young hawk, which he has just
captured; in another, a couple of squirrels, which have become so tame
that he can allow them to run about the shanty without the least fear
of their attempting to escape. Then he has two raccoons, several
pigeons, kingbirds, quails, two young eagles, and a fox, all
undergoing a thorough system of training. But his favorite pets are a
pair of kingbirds and a crow, which are allowed to run at large all
the time. They do not live on very good terms with each other. In
their wild state they are enemies, and each seems to think the other
has no business about the cottage; and Frank has been the unwilling
witness to many a desperate fight between them, in which the poor
crow always comes off second best. Then, to console himself, he will
fly upon Frank's shoulder, cawing with all his might, as if scolding
him for not lending some assistance. To make amends for his defeat,
Frank gives him a few kernels of corn, and then shows him a hawk
sailing through the air; and Sam, as he calls the crow, is off in an
instant, and, after tormenting the hawk until he reaches the woods, he
will always return.