238 THE COOKERY OF THE PHEASANT 



especially on the berries of the elder. In the Scotch 

 Highlands we have known him attracted to great 

 distances by straggling clumps of the rowan or 

 mountain ash, or even by tempting single trees. The 

 pungent flavour of the rowan berry is distinctly per- 

 ceptible and singularly piquant. It is remarkable, 

 by the way, that the fieldfare, who is as partial to these 

 ruddy clusters as the pheasant, should be so foolishly 

 neglected by the English cook. For a pate the field- 

 fare may be as good as anything that can come from 

 Perigueux or Pithiviers ; and in Flanders they send 

 him to table in an earthenware pan, frizzling among 

 berries of the juniper. The pheasant, as might be 

 assumed from his sprightly habits and his cheerful 

 mien, his omnivorous appetite, and an admirable diges- 

 tion, whenever he has the chance gorges on acorns 

 and beech nuts, like any of the swine in Westphalia or 

 Estremadura. And those nuts, assimilated through an 

 active life, are worth any quality of chestnuts or truffles 

 in a sauce or a stuffing. We knew an old farmer, whose 

 Michaelmas geese always fetched the highest prices 

 at Leadenhall ; although, in fact, the deliveries were 

 post-dated, and the geese never reached the salesman 

 till some time after Michaelmas Day. We asked 

 the reason, and the venerable breeder explained, 

 although not without a certain reluctance, that he 



