256 COOKERY OF DUCKS AND GEESE 



of the dying roe. But there is another side to the 

 question. Wild ducks, like all game, were created 

 to be eaten, and remorse and sentiment are alike 

 forgotten when you see them on the table, done to a 

 turn, which means slightly underdone, and served 

 in a piquant gravy of wine and spices. Wild ducks 

 have hardly the justice done them that they deserve, 

 but for that there is good reason. No bird, except, 

 perhaps, the wild goose, is more speculative according 

 to the species, the season, and the dieting. There is 

 no comparison between a grouse from the Scotch 

 moors and another from the Yorkshire Wolds, 

 between the hill-bred and the home-fed pheasant, 

 between the partridges of the wheat lands and those 

 from the grass shires of the Midlands. But at the 

 worst they are more piquant or more delicate than 

 ordinary poultry. Ducks, on the contrary, according 

 as they have fattened, may be exquisitely luscious or 

 fishily detestable. The pheasant, the partridge, and 

 the quail are the commonplaces of luxury in life and 

 literature, figuring at the banquets of kings and the 

 petits soupers of financiers. We seldom come across 

 the wild duck, yet when we do, he is respectfully- 

 treated en connoisseur. Dumas, who prided himself 

 on being a master of cuisine, makes his culinary 

 confrere, the Regent Orleans, luxuriate in a salmi, 



