The Romans gave it their entire esteem,[XX-74] and prepared it with truffles and mushrooms.[XX-75] Among them, men who knew what good cheer means, thought there was nothing worth eating in birds but the leg and lower part of the body. Fig-peckers were the only exception to this rule: they were served and eaten entire. “In the southerly parts of France, and in Italy, all the different species of linget, and almost all birds with a slender beak, are commonly called becafico, because in the autumn they attack and eat the figs, and thereby the flesh of these birds becomes then fat and exquisite; but that really known as the becafico is remarkable for its delicacy; therefore it has at all times been _recherché_ as an excellent eating. It is like a small lump of light fat--savoury, melting, easy of digestion; and, in truth, an extract of the juice from the delicious fruits it has fed upon.”--_Vieillot._ THE ORTOLAN. Florence and Bologna sent to Rome cases of ortolans, the enormous price of which irritated instead of discouraging gluttony.[XX-76] They arrived in the metropolis of the world, picked and separated one from the other by layers of flour to prevent decomposition.[XX-77] Each of these little birds furnished only a mouthful; but this incomparable mouthful eclipsed everything else, and produced a sort of epicurean extacy which may be called the _transcendantalism_ of gastronomy. Ortolans were submitted to the same treatment as fig-peckers in their preparation. THE OSTRICH. There were tribes formerly in Arabia who fed on ostriches, and who for this reason were called strutiophagists.[XX-78] Marmot asserts that, in his time, they were eaten in Africa, although their flesh was glutinous, and had a bad smell. When the people of Numidia took any that were young, they reared and fatted them, and led them to feed by flocks in the Desert; and as soon as they were fat they killed and salted them.[XX-79] The Arabs of the present day abstain from them; but it is said they seek much the fat, which they use plentifully in cooking. They were served at Rome on a few tables. This was nothing but a depravation of taste. Heliogabalus, who understood good living better, contented himself with the brains of ostriches. Six hundred of these animals furnished enough for one meal.[XX-80] The devastation was great, but the emperor had made a good supper. The ostrich’s eggs are very hard, very heavy, and very large; their weight often equals three pounds. The colour is of a dirty white, with light yellow veins; they are good to eat. In Africa they are sought after as a _friandise_, and cooked in various ways. The commonest and the best is, after breaking, to mix and cook them with a good deal of butter. They are large enough and sufficient for a man’s meal.