CK.]

ROAST WOODCOCK.

1053. INGREDIENTS.--Woodcocks; butter, flour, toast.

_Mode_.--Woodcocks should not be drawn, as the trails are, by epicures,
considered a great delicacy. Pluck, and wipe them well outside; truss
them with the legs close to the body, and the feet pressing upon the
thighs; skin the neck and head, and bring the beak round under the wing.
Place some slices of toast in the dripping-pan to catch the trails,
allowing a piece of toast for each bird. Roast before a clear fire from
15 to 25 minutes; keep them well basted, and flour and froth them
nicely. When done, dish the pieces of toast with the birds upon them,
and pour round a very little gravy; send some more to table in a tureen.
These are most delicious birds when well cooked, but they should not be
kept too long: when the feathers drop, or easily come out, they are fit
for table.--See coloured plate, I 1.

_Time_.---When liked underdone, 15 to 20 minutes; if liked well done,
allow an extra 5 minutes.

_Average cost_.--Seldom bought.

_Sufficient_,--2 for a dish.

_Seasonable_ from November to February.

[Illustration: THE WOODCOCK.]

THE WOODCOCK.--This bird being migratory in its habits, has,
consequently, no settled habitation; it cannot be considered as
the property of any one, and is, therefore, not game by law. It
breeds in high northern latitudes, and the time of its
appearance and disappearance in Sweden coincides exactly with
that of its arrival in and return from Great Britain. On the
coast of Suffolk its vernal and autumnal visits have been
accurately observed. In the first week of October it makes its
appearance in small numbers, but in November and December it
appears in larger numbers, and always after sunset, and most
gregariously. In the same manner as woodcocks take their leave
of us, they quit France, Germany, and Italy, making the northern
and colder climates their summer rendezvous. They visit Burgundy
in the latter part of October, but continue there only a few
weeks, the country being hard, and unable to supply them with
such sustenance as they require. In the winter, they are found
as far south as Smyrna and Aleppo, and, during the same season,
in Barbary, where the Africans name them "the ass of the
partridge." It has been asserted that they have been seen as far
south as Egypt, which is the most remote region to which they
can b