242 TO CHOOSE BIRDS. 



frontispiece (for which, by the way, it has long proved 

 difficult to select any thing original in common field-shoot- 

 ing), why are the partridges carried on a pole ? The 

 reason is this : if you put many birds together in a bag, 

 when the weather is hot, and fag about with them, 

 particularly on horseback, the under ones, at all events, 

 are only fit for entrees, or cats' meat. If you hang 

 them up in any thing still they are liable to be shook, 

 as well as to have their heads pulled off. But a pole, 

 from requiring two people, cannot be otherwise than 

 steadily carried ; and thus your birds are kept cleaner 

 than by other means. Here we have a hint for both 

 the chasseur and the gourmand. 



Sportsmen are often heartily abused by their ac- 

 quaintance (I cannot yet bring myself to hackney the 

 word friends quite so fluently as I ought to do) for 

 sending them " tough and good-for-nothing game," 

 while all the blame should, in many instances, rest with 

 themselves, or their pudding-headed cook, who, may be, 

 dresses an old pheasant, or hare, the very day after it 

 was killed, or perhaps, while engrossed in a story or ar- 

 gument, leaves it to roast away, till their remains neither 

 juice nor flavour. 



All game, &c. should be kept till properly tender ; 

 or, if wanted in a hurry, it may be picked, wrapped 

 up in a cloth, and thus buried in the earth for a few 

 hours, before it is dressed. This is the custom abroad, 

 where I have supped on wildfowl, perfectly tender, that 

 were killed since an early dinner on the same day. 



Birds, that are dressed so soon after being killed, as 

 scarcely to have become cold, are more tender than if 

 put by, for a night, and afterwards not kept long 

 enough. On the other hand, if you want them kept a 



