These beady-eyed birds can be found in fields of crops dodging scarecrows or flapping around the barnyard looking for grain. No wonder they now need a rest!
1 For the bodies, roll out the black sugarpaste to 3mm (1⁄8in) thick using spacers. Use a circle cutter (no. 7) to cut 12 circles.
2 For one pair of wings, roll out the black sugarpaste thinly. Use the large heart cutter to cut down once into the paste and lift the excess paste away. Rotate the cutter slightly and cut down a second time so that you cut away some of the existing paste to create a three-pointed wing shape. Repeat to cut a second wing.
3 For one pair of eyes, cut a small heart from thinly rolled-out white sugarpaste. Cut straight across to trim off the bottom pointed part. For the beak, cut a large heart from thinly rolled-out bright yellow sugarpaste. Curl the two curved edges of the heart inwards and squeeze together, then trim the pointed end.
4 To make the bird look as if he is perched with his head nestling by his wings, position the eyes to the right-hand side of the body, with the feathers of one wing overhanging the left-hand side, then the second wing overlapping the first. Lay the beak on top of the end of the wings below the eyes. Attach all the pieces in place with sugar glue.
5 Plunger-cut two small black paste circles for pupils and attach.
