Put into every bird, an oyster, or a little butter mixed with some
finely sifted bread-crumbs. Dredge them with flour. Run a small
skewer through them, and tie them on the spit. Baste them with
lard or with fresh butter. They will be done in about ten minutes.
A very nice way of cooking these birds is, (having greased them
all over with lard or with fresh butter, and wrapped them in vine
leaves secured closely with a string,) to lay them in a heated
iron pan, and bury them in ashes hot enough to roast or bake them.
Remove the vine leaves before you send the birds to table.
Reed birds are very fine made into little dumplings with a thin
crust of flour and butter, and boiled about twenty minutes. Each
must be tied in a separate cloth.