Bits of Wisdom on Woodcocks....

"The woodcock, if properly dressed, is a highly flavored and truly delicious bird. In choosing them let it be well understood that, however genuine they may be, woodcocks are good for nothing unless they are fat, and no dish looks so bad or has less flavor than the thin half-starved birds of this species which we find very often in the New York markets. There is more art in roasting woodcocks than any other bird of the same size. They require constant attention during the operation of roasting them, as they must be very little done. The flesh of the woodcock, like that of all dark-fleshed game, being digestible when almost raw, and losing its flavor if roasted as long as a partridge, their cooking occupies but little time; there a cook should never leave the woodcock from the moment they read the oven until they are done. The most delicate parts of the woodcock are the legs and tail, next the breast; the latter should be very much underdone, and the legs a little more."

----- From page 82 of the book, "The Complete Cook Book" by Janie Day Rees. Published in New York by Street & Smith, circa 1900.

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This is the most delicious of small birds, and may be either roasted or broiled.

----- From the book, "Common Sense in the Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery" by Marion Harland. Published in Toronto by Rose Publishing Company, circa 1900.