New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-20
UTTTON BIRD OF TREFOH ISLAND.
THE SOOTY PETREL IS ESTEEMED DEL
ICACY IN AUSTRALIA.

From The San Francisco Chronicle.
Tastes differ in different ATTITUDES even am S's
ing on sailed petrels. and with 4 relish. too. aS
Iii iSn fnu That haunt the barren Islands on the
California coast none are considered quite go worth
less as the sooty petrol Even the seagull has his
coast. but the petrol IS truly a despised bird In
these waters. Seasuls' eggs bring a price In the
market that makes it worth while to gather them
at considerable expense but no one thinks II
worth while 10 rob the petrels nests on the rocker
les at the Farallcne Islands
II is different in Australia. Is 1t the cold winds
that blow up from the Antarctic regions or the hot
air that sweeps down from the equator? No mat.
ter what the cause. the fact is that the appetites
The scoty petrol is there edible fowl. with de-
cided market value. ard number o, men and
sailing packing and caIrying Il IN srsat auantitis'
Joining islands on the north coast OF Tasmania to
Stanley and Melbourne.
there and the men and ships ed In the busi-
are known as mutton birders To Ameri.
that such common birds the petrol are
packed and salted down like so much pork Is a.,
there. Bu the test of the pudding Is in the eating
OF H. ana 'hose wnP ' pronnnc e the one every
bit as good the other
If YOU leave San Francisco in August sailing
westward and southwark YOU will pass many great
hocks OF birds that will be ponted out TO you As
trSye.ling about three times faster than YOU are.
And when you reach Melbourne and have become
mania YOU may dne OF the Young OF those very
birds that passed YOU the California coast only
they will be served to you as mutton birds:
These fowls leave the caraliones few
months and once every year they vsi. Australia.
Trefo Island Is their chief roosting-plac In the
southern hemisphere. so far as Is known Here
they scratch and fg in the barren soil until they
have buirowsd hole perhaps two feet deep. Int
these holes each hen In the immense flock deposits
her one egg. The mutton birder inserts his arm
full stretch for his game. He does not take the
egg but waits A week ten days after the egg
has been hatched Then he finds the young bird
almost as big as its parent. but much more tender
and fat. On land the petrol is quite unable to
escape from the catchers. II cannot mount into the
air from of the land. though its WINGS are enor.
mously long In proportion 10 its black body. and u
rises quite gracefully from the water. On Shore
however the strange bird must hop along at slow
pace and can only iy from the lop OF ledge. Ger
tair points of Trefoil Island Uttered with thou
sands Of these nests and II is no difficult task to
gather the yearly harvest OF young mutton birds
The mutton birding season on Trefot Island lasts
from n month to six weeks. and this includes the
catching sailing. packing and shipping. Tney arc
hacked in casks. and these loaded on coasting
schocrers that come after them from Tasmania and
Melbourne
BY the time the fresh crop OF mutton birds Is Be-
ing eaten 1T Melbourne the adult parents with
perhaps n certain percentage Of the young ones
their old haunts occupying the old and scratching
new nests the Faraone Islands. Here the birds
are practically unmolested. and may thus be eato
with some basis in reason. that the California
coast Is supplying the Australian coasters with
their edible seafowl II is true OF course that the
p,trel finds other quiet nesting places besides the
islands on the California coast. but IL Ii also true
that Catalina the Santa Barbara channel Islands
and the Faralones their chief rookeries on this
coast and that AZ certain seasons these ISLANDS arc
Tasmania and the southern coast OF Australia
then swarm with them.