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 stale; dry footed. A true wild duck has reddish foot, smaller than the tame one.
Goodwetts, marle, knots, ruffs, gull, dotterels, and weat-eaters.
IF these be old, their legs will be rough; if young, smooth; if fat, a fat rump; if new, limber-footed; if stale, dry-footed.
Pheasant cock and hen.
THE cock when young, has dubbed spurs: when old, sharp small spurs; if new, a fast vent; and if stale, an open flabby one. The hen, if young, has smooth legs, and her flesh of a curious grain; if with egg, she will have a soft open vent, and if not, a close one. For newness and staleness, as the cock.
Heath and pheasant poults.
IF new, they will be stiff and white in the vent, and the feet limber; if fat, they will have a hard vent; if stale, dry-footed and limber; and if touched, they will peel. Heath cock and hen. IF young, they have smooth legs and bills; and if old, rough. For the rest, they are known as the foregoing.
Partridge, cock and hen.
THE bill white, and the legs bluish, shew age , for if young, the bill is black and the legs yellowish; if new, a fast vent; if stale, a green and open one. If their crops be full, and they have fed on green wheat, they may taint there; and for this smell in their mouth.
Woodcock and snipe.
THE woodcock, if fat, is thick and hard; if new, limber-footed; when stale, dry-footed; or if their noses are snotty, and their throats muddy and moorish, they are naught. A snipe, if fat, has a fat vent in the side under the wing, and in the vent feels thick; for the rest, like the woodcock.
Doves and pigeons.
TO know the turtle dove, look for a bluish ring round his neck, and the rest mostly white; the stock-dove is bigger; and the ring-dove is less than the stock-dove. The dove-house pigeons, when old, are red legged; if new and fat, they will feel full and fat in the vent, and are limber-footed; but if stale, a flabby and green vent.
And so green or grey plover, fieldfare, blackbird, thrush, larks, &c.
