Many readers of this list relish wild birds--at times--because they can
provide relief from our fellow humans. We are gradually abandoning some
old habits of relishing them for the dinner table. Some proof of this
comes from a romp through "The Market Assistant, containing a brief
description of every article of human food sold in the public markets of
the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn; including
the various Domestic and Wild Animals, Poultry, Game, Fish, Vegetables,
Fruits, &c, &c, with many curious incidents and anecdotes" by Thomas F.
De Voe, published in 1867. Pages 145-180 cover birds*.
        These pages relate the huge variety of wild birds then sold as food (or
specimens for taxidermy), from wildfowl to owls to eagles, over 120
species. An item on p. 172 on the green heron, or "schyte-poke," is
followed by a lengthy treatment of the passenger pigeon ("the wild
squabs, when fat and fresh, are very delicate eating"). The "Esquimaux
Curlew, Futes, or doe-bird," is "well flavored, and the best of all the
curlews" p. 168. There is even a section on "Birds which are seldom or
never used here as human food."
        Lurking behind all these accounts is a portrait of our own species,
needless to say.
Bill Whan
Columbus

*The Assistant can be found at
http://books.google.com/books?id=2z4EAAAAYAAJ&q=loon#v=snippet&q=grebe&f=false

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