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Pheasant, Flavour Of

The pheasant is sometimes domesticated for the table, but the flavour of the bird is decidedly best when in a natural wild state. M. Ude says, "It is not often that pheasants are met with possessing that exquisite taste which is acquired only by long keeping, as the damp of this climate prevents their being kept so long as they are in other countries. The hens in general are most delicate. The cocks show their age by their spurs. They are only fit to be eaten when the blood begins to run from the bill, which is commonly six days or a week after they have been killed. The flesh of the pheasant is white, tender, and has a good flavour, if you keep it long enough; if not, it has no more than a common hen or fowl."