22 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



others. Its flavour is most delicate. I have, 

 indeed, heard epicures declare that a Snipe is not 

 better, and has the disadvantage of being smaller. 

 The Green Plover, or Peewit, is capital in a pie, with 

 other aids, but is not nearly so well-flavoured as the 

 Golden. 



The Grey Plover is better than the Green, but, 

 from its sea-coast habits, is inferior to the Golden. 

 All wildfowl have a stronger taste when procured 

 on the tide, than when their food and haunts are 

 inland. But to accuse Ducks of being fishy when 

 near the coast is absurd. No Duck, properly so 

 called, could catch or hold a fish in its bill as 

 can a Merganser with its serrated beak. What 

 often gives the Wild Duck a bad reputation is the 

 number of Mergansers, Scaup, Goldeneyes, and 

 Shelduck (the latter are vile as food), that are indis- 

 criminately sold as Duck to the unwary, by cunning 

 or ignorant dealers. I f Duck, and especially Wigeon, 

 are strong in flavour from their tide-feeding habits, 

 let the cook put an onion, a walnut, or milk, inside 

 the bird when cooking it, and the improvement will 

 be apparent. Coots, if skinned, are capital when 

 first driven down to the tide by frost, and are well 

 worth a shot if met with inland. Curlews are good 

 at the end of harvest time, a young bird excellent ; 

 but they must be obtained so far from the estuaries, 

 that they do not fly thither to feed. A Redshank 

 is not the best of eating ; but of the smaller waders, 

 the Knot is best of all. Mr. Warren, of Ballina, 

 co. Mayo, says the Redshank is the only shore bird 

 he does not consider worth cooking. 



The following local names for different Wildfowl 



