1. Begin by removing the backbone. Lay the bird on its breast and, with a sharp pair of poultry shears, slice up one side of the spine, keeping as close to the spine as possible. Repeat for the other side of the spine. Lift the spine out.

2. With the bird still breast down, pick it up by the shoulders, placing the thumb of each hand over the upper wing bone (humerus) the rest of your hand under it.With a quick snap of the wrist, hyperextend the shoulder, pressing both upper wing bones at the same time, until your knuckles meet behind the bird.This will pop the shoulder joint apart, and in small and young ducks and in most upland birds, will pop the sternum (breastbone) out of the meat.

3. With a paring knife, lift the loosened rib cage intact from the carcass. At this point the meat is fairly well separated from the rib cage.Repeat with second rib cage.

4. Now lift the loosened sternum. With some birds, this will require very little help with a knife; in others, you'll need to lift the bone and fillet the meat. To clean up the last of the bones, fillet the wishbone and hip bone out. The hip bone wil be loose from having cut out the spine in Step 1. Run your fingers over the meat to be sure you've picked up all the bones.

5. The (almost) boned bird can now be laid out on the grill whole and cooked at moderate temperatures. Or, if you like lots of stuffing, it can be stuffed and tied with white cotton string, then slowly roasted in the grill, as for whole goose, allow 20 minutes per pound at 350F. For hot quick grilling, remove the legs and cook them separately: they will not cook as fast as the breast. With or without legs,this in an elegant way to serve fowl. At the table, slice across the breast.