Ortolan

a garden bunting of the Old World. It is a small bird of sparrow size, nesting in bushes and on the ground as far north as Lapland, but going south for the winter. Large numbers are taken in the Mediterranean region for the table. In the island of Cyprus, especially, they are caught in a net, and sometimes they are fattened until they are as plump as an egg. At last reports large numbers were seasoned with spices, pickled in vinegar, and packed, 300 to 400 in a cask, for export. Cyprus is credited with exporting several hundred casks of ortolans a year. The ancient Roman epicures considered roasted ortolans a table dainty.