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Classic
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page 80
Geese.--The bill and feet of a young one will be yellow, and there will be but
few hairs upon them; if old, they will be red: if fresh, the feet will be
pliable; if stale, dry and stiff. Geese are called green till three or four
months old. Green geese should be scalded: a stubble-goose should be picked dry.
Ducks.-Choose them by the same rules, of having supple feet, and by their being
hard and thick on the breast and belly. The feet of a tame duck are thick, and
inclining to dusky yellow; a wild one has the feet reddish, and smaller than the
tame. They should be picked dry. Ducklings must be scalded.
Pigeons should be very fresh; when they look flabby about the vent, and this
part is discoloured, they are stale. The feet should be supple; if old, the feet
are harsh. The tame ones are larger than the wild, and are thought best by some
persons; they should be fat and tender; but many are deceived in their size,
because a full crop is as large as the whole body of a small pigeon.
The wood pigeon is large, and the flesh dark-coloured: if properly kept, and not
over-roasted, the flavour is equal to teal. Serve with a good gravy.
Plovers.--Choose those that feel hard at the vent, which shews they are fat. In
other respects, choose them by the same marks as other fowl. When stale, the
feet are dry. They will keep sweet a long time. There are three sorts; the grey,
green, and bastard plover, or lapwing.
Hare or rabbit.--If the claws are blunt and ragged, the ears dry and tough, and
the haunch thick it is old: but if the claws are smooth and sharp, the ears
easily tear, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is young. If fresh
and newly killed, the body will be stiff, and in hares the flesh pale. But they
keep a good while by proper care; and are best when rather beginning to turn, if
the inside is preserved from being musty. To know, a real leveret, you should
look for a knob or small bone near the foot on its fore leg; if there is none,
it is a hare.
Partridges.--They are in season in autumn. If young,
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