Reed Birds
Reed birds and rice birds are the same. They are very small, (only a mouthful on each side of the breast,) but very delicious, and immensely fat in the summer and autumn. They are brought to market with a lump of fat skewered on the outside, and are sold by the dozen strung on a stick like cherries.
To cook them, roast them on a bird-spit, basting with their own fat, as it drips. A nice way for retaining the whole flavor is to tie each bird closely in a vine leaf, and bake them in a dutch oven. Or wrap them in double vine leaves, and roast them in the ashes of a wood fire. Remove the vine leaves before the birds are dished.