Choose three fine, fat teal; pick, singe and dry them; cut off their heads and split the birds into halves without separating the parts. Place them on a dish and season with one pinch of salt, one-half pinch of pepper and one tablespoonful of sweet oil. Roll them well in it and put them to broil over a moderate fire for seven or eight minutes on either side. Have in readiness a hot dish with six large slices of toasted bread; divide the teal and lay one-half of them on the top of each Spread over one gill of maitre d'hotel butter, garnish with a little watercress, and serve.

Deviled Teal Ducks

Cut into small pieces two or three large onions, place them in a mortar, add a small piece of green ginger and six or eight green peppers, and pound them to a pulp. Add two teaspoonfuls each of chutney and mustard, and a small quantity each of cayenne, pepper and salt; put the mixture into a saucepan, and pour in one-half pint of claret. Cut a teal in pieces and put them in a saucepan, and let them simmer gently at the side of the fire until the meat is done; this will take a long time. Arrange the pieces of teal on a dish, pour the sauce over, and serve.

Teal Ducks, Gourmet Style

After the bird has been plucked, singed and drawn, split it open down the back with a knife, but do not divide it; pour boiling water over and remove the pink substance that will be found to line the back; season the interior of the teal with spices, and brown it in a brisk oven for ten or fifteen minutes. Afterwards place the bird on a gridiron, the inside next to the fire, and broil it for five minutes. Make some rich brown gravy, thickening it with baked flour. Place the bird on a large slice of toasted bread, garnish it with groups of vegetables, slices of beet-root and quarters of lemons and oranges, and serve with a red currant jelly on a small glass dish. A fringe of watercress should also be arranged round the dish.

Roast Teal Ducks

Singe, draw and truss the required number of birds, wipe them with a wet towel, cut off the heads and feet. Put one tablespoonful of butter, one saltspoonful of salt, and one saltspoonful of pepper in each bird, and lay them in a dripping pan; peel an onion, put it into the pan with the teal, set the birds in a very hot oven, and bake them for twenty minutes, basting them every five minutes, adding more butter if it is required for basting. Just before serving the birds, season them with salt, and serve with a sauce made up as follows, while they are being cooked : Peel and chop fine a shallot or onion, put it over the fire with one tablespoonful of butter, and when the butter begins to brown, stir in one tablespoonful of flour; when the flour is brown add one-half pint each of port wine and boiling water, one teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Stir the sauce until it boils, then keep it hot. When the birds are done, pour the drippings from them into the sauce, mix them well with it, and serve hot.