A young turkey has a smooth leg, and a soft bill, and if fresh, the eyes will be bright, and the feet moist. Old turkeys have scaly, stiff feet.

Young fowls have a tender skin, smooth legs, and the breast bone readily yields to the pressure of the finger. The best are those that have yellow legs. The feet and legs of old fowls look as if they had seen hard service in the world.

Young ducks feel tender under the wing, and the web of the foot is transparent. The best are thick and hard on the breast.

Young geese have yellow bills, and the feet are yellow and supple; the skin may be easily broken by the head of a pin; the breast is plump, and the fat white. An old goose is unfit for the human stomach.

To keep fowls in warm weather, take out the heart and liver and parboil them, set them aside in a cool place, to be used in the gravy. Wash the fowls as clean as possible from the blood, and plunge one at a time into a kettle of boiling water for five minutes, moving it about, that the water may penetrate every part. Drain and wipe them dry and pepper the inside and the necks. This process will enable you to keep them two days in warm weather. In cold weather all sorts of poultry should be kept at least a week; but care should be taken that they do not freeze, as they are not quite so good for being frozen.

Pick out the pin feathers very carefully. A pair of tweezers is sometimes necessary to take out those which a knife will not remove. Cut out the oil bag above the tail. Singe off all the hair by turning it quickly over a blazing paper. Cut off the legs at the joint above the feet; trim the neck, and if too long cut off some of it; draw out the crop and be sure to take out every thing from the inside. The best way of removing the crop is to make an incision along the backbone, just below the neck. It can be removed in this way as easily as by the common method, and the appearance of the bird, when laid on the dish, is much better. Be careful, in removing the gall bag, not to break it, as it will make every spot it touches bitter, and the roast careful washing will not remove it. If there is much fat, trim off most of it. Throw the liver, heart, and gizzard into water and wash them. Wash the fowl in several waters. It is then ready to be stuffed and skewered, as directed under the head, To roast a Turkey. Some persons think fowls much better not to be washed; but they cannot be clean without.

The sharpness of the breast bone, which is a defect in the appearance of a fowl on the table, may be remedied in the following way: When preparing it to be cooked, take a small sharp knife, and passing it up the body, cut off the little slender bones which join the hug-me-close * to the side. Then push down the breast bone by pressing heavily upon it. A little practice will make it easy to do this.

How To Cook Woodcocks, Quails, And Other Small Birds

Pull off the skin, split them down the back with a sharp knife, pepper the breasts, and lay the inside first upon the gridiron. Broil them slowly at first, skewer a small bit of pork upon each one. Turn them after seven or eight minutes. Broil them twenty minutes.

If you wish to make a pie, do just as directed for the pigeon pie.