Definition of "ortolan"

[…] this taught him to consider Sophia as a most delicious morsel, indeed to regard her with the same desires which an ortolan inspires into the soul of an epicure.

1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VI, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], book VII

[…] the last flavor Mitterrand wished to savor belonged to the flesh of the endangered ortolan, a songbird the size of a human toe that is a crime to buy or hunt, and is certainly illegal to eat. Mitterrand devoured it in the traditional manner, first covering his head with an embroidered cloth, then inserting the entire bird into his mouth. […] Only its head should dangle out from between your lips. Bite off the head and discard.

2003, Stewart Lee Allen, In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food, page 73