The more artistic term for this is forcemeat. The following recipes are those generally in use and others will be found under special headings:

Stuffing For Birds

Peel two large onions, parboil them, then drain and chop them fine. Soak one breakfast cupful of breadcrumbs in as much milk as they will absorb without becoming too soft. Put four ounces of butter in a stewpan, place it over the fire, and when the butter is melted put in the onions, breadcrumbs and one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, pepper and salt to taste, add a small quantity of grated nutmeg. Add the beaten yolks of two eggs and stir the mixture over the fire until it is reduced to a paste without allowing it to boil. The stuffing is then ready. It can be made in larger or smaller quantities according to the number and size of the birds to be stuffed.

Anchovy Stuffing

Put some large, fine-chopped onions into a fryingpan with a little oil or butter, and fry them to a light brown. Put them in a basin and add some breadcrumbs that have been dipped in water and squeezed quite dry; then add a small piece of the liver of the bird to be stuffed, the fillets of seven or eight salted anchovies, a pinch of parsley, with a few chopped capers. Work these well together, sprinkle over a little pepper and thicken the mixture with the yolks of eggs, when it is ready for use.

Stuffing For Ducks

Peel a fair-sized onion and a sour cooking-apple; chop them both very fine, and mix them with six ounces of finely-grated stale breadcrumb, one scant tablespoonful of sage leaves, either powdered or finely minced, one tablespoonful of butter and a little salt and pepper. Bind the whole together with a beaten egg, and it is then ready for the ducks.

Stuffing For Fish

Weigh two pounds of breadcrumbs without the crust, and cut it into small squares; mix them one-half tablespoonful of powdered herbs, and a liberal quantity of salt and pepper. Dissolve six ounces of butter in one-half pint of warm water, and beat in the yolks of four eggs. Pour the liquid mixture over the bread and stir it well, but do not mash it. It is then ready for use.

Stuffing For Fowls

Trim off all the crust from two pounds of bread; put the crumb into a basin of cold water, soak it for five minutes, then turn it onto a sieve and drain well, pressing out the water with a plate. When nearly dry, cut the bread into small squares, and season it well with powdered sage, salt and pepper. Warm one breakfast cupful of butter, beat in an egg and three teacupfuls of warm water, and pour it over the bread, stirring it lightly, but not mashing it. Allow it to soak for ten minutes, and the stuffing will then be ready for use.

Giblet Stuffing For Turkey

Put the giblets in a saucepan over the fire with boiling water to cover; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt and a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper, and boil gently until tender. Save the water in which the giblets were boiled to use for gravy. Chop the giblets quite fine; put them in a fryingpan over the fire with four ounces of butter, two breakfast cupfuls of stale breadcrumbs and a good seasoning of salt, pepper and any powdered sweet herb except sage; stir all these ingredients together until they are of a light brown; add a wineglassful of sherry or Madeira wine, and the forcemeat is ready for use.