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'Extrait du Journal de Mes Voyages' by M. Pahin de la Blancherie, which was published in Paris and Orleans in 1775 contains a passage which, roughly translated, reads, 'You can leave a child in his own home, I mean, in the room, when you know he can take care of himself ... I don't mean studying Latin, grammar, mythology, & c; but to use his time for something that will interest him: thus he will repeat his music lesson, he will make paper birds, houses of cards; he will paint on paper, he will build a kite, he will whittle wood, & c. If a child is well behaved, we can rest assured that being alone he will take care of himself.'

This passage refers to the making of paper birds as if it is, like the building of card castles, an activity commonly practised by boys. This suggests that these paper birds were probably Cocottes but without an illustration, or a more detailed description, we cannot be certain that they were.

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