Birds should be carefully plucked or skinned, drawn, wiped clean, and all shot removed. Game should not be washed, unless absolutely necessary for cleanliness. With care in dressing, wiping will render them perfectly clean. If necessary to wash, do it quickly and use as little water as possible. The more plainly all kinds of game are cooked, the better they retain their fine flavor. They require more brisk fire than poultry, but take less time to cook. Their color, when done, should be a fine brown color. Broiling is a favorite method of cooking game, and all birds are exceedingly nice roasted. To broil, split down the back, open and flatten the breast by covering with a cloth and pounding; season with pepper, and lay the inside first upon the gridiron; turn as soon as browned, and when almost done, take off, place on a platter, sprinkle with salt, and serve at once. The time required is usually about twenty minutes. To lard game, cut fat salt pork into thin, narrow strips, thread a larding-needle with one of the strips, ran the needle under the skin, through, so that the ends of the strips exposed will be of equal length. The strips should be about one inch apart. Many prefer tying a piece of bacon on the breast instead. Pigeons should be cooked a long time as they are usually quite lean and tough, and they are better to lie in salt water half an hour, or to be par-boiled in it for a few moments. They are nice roasted or made into a pie.

Squirrels should be carefully skinned and laid in salt water a short time before cooking; if old, par-boil. They are delicious broiled, and are excellent cooked in any way with thin slices of bacon. Venison requires more time for cooking than beefsteak.

The haunch, neck, shoulder and saddle should be roasted; roast or broil the breast, and fry or broil the steaks.

Nearly all wild ducks are liable to have a fishy flavor. Before roasting them, guard against this by par-boiling them with a small carrot, peeled, put within each. This will absorb the unpleasant taste. An onion will have the same effect, but unless you use it in the dressing, the carrot is preferable.

The garnishes for game are fresh or preserved barberries, currant jelly, sliced oranges, and apple sauce.

Stewed Duck

Par-boil ten minutes, when you have drawn them, and put in a raw carrot or onion. Lay in very cold water for half an hour; cut into joints, pepper, salt and flour them. Have ready some butter in a frying-pan, and fry them a light brown; put them in a sauce-pan and cover them with gravy made of the giblets, neck and some bits of lean veal; add a minced shallot, a bunch of sweet herbs, salt and pepper; cover closely, and stew half an hour, or until tender. Take out the ducks, strain the gravy when you have skimmed it, put in half a cup of cream or rich milk, in which an egg has been beaten, thicken with browned flour, add a tablespoonful of vinegar and the juice of half a lemon, beaten in gradually, so as not to curdle the cream. Boil up and pour over the ducks.

Quails Par-Boiled And Baked

Tie a thin slice of bacon over the breast of each bird; cover it closely, and set it on top of the range, letting the birds steam ten or fifteen minutes. This plumps them. Then take off the cover and the pork, and put the birds into the oven, basting them often with butter. Brown them and serve with currant jelly.

Broiled Quails

Split them at the back. Broil, basting them often with butter, over a hot fire. As soon as the quails are done, add a little more butter, with pepper and salt, and place them for a moment into the oven to soak the butter, Serve them on thin slices of buttered toast, with a little currant jelly on top of each quail.

Snipe

Snipe are best roasted with a piece of pork tied to the breast, or they may be stuffed and baked.

Fried Woodcock

Dress, wipe clean, tie the legs, skin the head and neck, turn the beak under the wing and tie it; fasten a piece of bacon over it, and immerse in hot fat for two or three minutes. Serve on toast. Another favorite way is to split them through the back and broil, basting with butter, and serve on toast.

Rabbits

Rabbits, which are in the best condition in midwinter, may be fricasseed like chicken, in white or brown sauce. To make a pie, first stew till tender, and make like chicken pie. To roast, stuff with a dressing made of bread crumbs, chopped salt pork, thyme, onion, and pepper and salt, sew up, rub over with a little butter, or pin on it a few slices of salt pork, add a little water in the pan and baste often. Serve with mashed potatoes and currant jelly.

Reed Birds

Cut sweet potatoes lengthwise; scoop out in the center of each a place that will fit half the bird. Put in the birds, after seasoning them with butter, pepper, salt, tying the two pieces of potato around each of them. Bake them. Serve them in the potatoes. Or they can be roasted or fried in boiling lard like other birds.