GAME. 323 
Rabbit flesh somewhat resembles fowl. The thin sides about 
the ribs of a rabbit, and the flabby belly flanks are always of a 
bad taste, and should be removed in the trimming of the animal, 
so as not to be used. For the same reason it is never advisable to 
fill a rabbit with stuffing inside the belly. Likewise care should 
be exercised only to approve of a sound liver for cooking, as free 
from nodules, or discoloured spots. In Lear’s Book of Nonsense 
(about which Ruskin pronounced, “ The Book of Nonsense, by 
Edward Lear, with its corollary carols, inimitable and refreshing, 
and perfect rhythm, is surely the most innocent and beneficial 
of all such books ’’) occurs the quaint jingle :—- 
‘- There was an old person whose habits 
Induced him to feed upon rabbits ; 
When he’d eaten eighteen, he turned perfectly green, 
Upon which he relinquished those habits.” 
The Woodcock (Scolopax Rusticola), gets its food mainly by 
suction, and is clean for cooking in its entirety, except the 
gizzard, after being plucked of the feathers. The flesh is better 
as the winter advances. It may be eaten with benefit by 
asthmatic persons, but cannot be kept fit for the table long after 
- being killed: the rump and the loins are furnished with firm 
white fat. Montreuil has a high reputation for its woodcock 
patés. In English clubs when woodcocks and snipes are served, 
their heads are taken off and returned to the kitchen, from whence 
they reappear at the end of dinner smothered in mutton fat, and 
well seasoned with salt and pepper; thus prepared they are 
presented on a plate to each guest, accompanied by a lighted 
candle. The guest then grills, or rather burns, the head in the 
flame of the candle, and proceeds to crunch it whilst still splutter- 
ing with the heat, having first well smothered it with cayenne 
pepper. So says M. Suzanne. Neither bread-sauce, nor fried 
crumbs are usually served with woodcock. Some persons choose 
an orange sauce, or cranberry jelly, or red currant jelly. Few 
dainties can rival a woodcock simply roasted: dress it (likewise 
red mullet) with a little butter: the gravy which comes from 
each of them is its best sauce. Open fire roasting 1s the only 
means of doing culinary justice to this noble bird; the in- 
equality of roasting because of the legs makes it clear that such 
a delicate operation cannot be anyhow effected in a baking oven. 
The time for cooking may be estimated at from fifteen to twenty 
