322 
*fhe Art of Cookery , 
Wild and tame ducks . 
THE duck, when fat, is hard and thick on the belly, but if 
not, thin and lean ; if new, limber-footed; if ftale, dryfooted. 
A true wild duck has a reddifh foot, fmallerthan the tame one. 
Goodwetts , marie , knots , ruffs^gull^ dotterels^ andwheat-ears . 
IF thefe be old, their legs will be rough ; if young, fmooth; 
"if fat, a fat rump; if new, limber-footed ; if ftale, dry-footed* 
Pheafant cock and hen. 
The cock when young, has dubbed fpurs: when old, fharp 
final 1 fpurs ; if new, a faft vent; and if ftale, an open flabby one® 
The hen, if young, has fmooth legs, and her flefh of a curious 
grain ; if with egg, fhe will have a foft open vent, and if not, a 
clofe one. For newnefs or ftalenefs, as the cock. 
Heath and pheafant poults. 
IF new, they will be ftifF and white in the vent, and the feet 
limber; if fat, they will have a hard vent; if ftale, dry-footed 
and limber ; and if touched, they will peel. 
Heath cock and hen . 
IF young, they have fmooth legs and bills; and if old, rough® 
For the reft, they are known as the foregoing. 
Partridge , cock and hen . 
THE bill white, and the legs bluifh, fhe w age ; for if young* 
the bill is black and legs yellowifh; if new, a fall: vent; if 
ftale, a green and open one. If their crops be full, and they 
have fed on green wheat, they may taint there; and for this fmell 
in their mouth. 
Woodcock and fnipe . 
f THE ivoodcock, if fat, is thick and hard ; if new, limber¬ 
footed ; when ftale, dry-footed ; or if their nofes are fnoity, and 
their throats muddy and moorifh, they are naught. A fnipe, if 
fat, has a fat vent in the fide under the wing, and in the vent 
feels thick ; for the reft, like the woodcock. 
Doves and pigeons. 
TO know the turtle dove, look for a bluifh ring round his 
neck, and the reft moftly white : the ftoek-dove is bigger ; and 
the ring-dove is lefs than the ftock-dove. The dove-houfe 
pigeons, when old, are red legged ; if new and fat, they will 
feel full and fat in the vent, and are limber-footed; butif ftale y 
•a flabby and green vent. 
And fo green or grey plover, fieldfare, blackbird, thrufti* 
larks, &c. Of 
