The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-27
MUTTON BIRDS HIGHLY PRICED
Esteemed a Great Delicacy by the
People of TrefOiI Island.

Tastes differ in different ATTITUDES. even
among among Eng1;sh-speaking people, says the San
francesca examiner Imagine Caucasions
dining on sailed petrels, and with a relish
TOO, as though that fsh-eating sea bird were
a luxury. OF all the fowl that haunt the
barron islands on the California coast, none
Even the seagull has his usefulness as a
scaVenger on the bays along the coast, but
the petrol is truly despised bird in these
waters. Seagulls' eggs bring price in the
market that makes it worth while tn gather
them at considerable expense but no one
thinks it worth while to rob the petrels'
islands. -01o
1t is different in Australia. Is It the cold
winds that blow up from the Antarctic re-
glons or the hot air that sweeps down from
the equator! NO matter what the cause
the fact is that the appetites of our Austria
Ian cousins are radically different. The
sooty petrol is there an edible fowl, with a
decided market value, and a number of men
and small craft employed each year in
catching, sailing, packing and carrying It in
great quantities from the rookeries on Trefoil
lsIand and other adjoining islands on the
bourne. '--'1 NA0i-
Mutton bird Is the general name given the
petTel there, and the men and ships engaged
IN the business are known as mutton bird
ers 10 Americans this is quite a novel in
dustry, and the fact that such common sea
61rds as the petrol are packed and sailed
down like so much pork is always a matter
OF Wonderment to strangers who go there
But the test of the pudding is in the eating
OF 1t, and those who have dined off mutton
BIRDS instead of land mutton pronounce the
one every bit good as the other.
If you leave San Francisco in August. sail
Ing westward and southwark, you will pass
many great hocks Of birds that will be pointed
out to you as sooty petrels-or they will pass
you for they are travelling about three times
faster than you are And when you reach
Melbourne and have become acclimated
enough to venture trip across to Tasmania
you may dine off the young of these very
birds that passed you on the California coast
only now they will be served to you as NUT
ton birds.
These fowls leave the Farallones every few
months, and once every year they visit Au-
STRATA. Trefoil island is their chief roostine
place in the Southern hemisphere, so far as
is known. Here they scratch and dig in the
DarPen soil oil until they have burrowed hole
perhaps two feet deep. Into 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 week or ten DAYS after
the egg has been Matched. Then he finds the
young bird almost as big as its parent hIt
mucn more tender and fat. On land the ne
trel is quite unable to escape from the catch
ers. 1t cannot mount into the air from off
the Land, though its wings are enormously
long IN proportion to Its black body, and It
rises quite gracefully from the water On
shore, however, the strange bird must
mop along at slow pace, and can only fy
from the top Of a ledge. Certain points Of
Trefoil island are Uttered with thousands Of
these nests, and 1t is no difficult task To
gather the yearly harvest of young mutton
blrds; The mutton birding season on Trefoil
island lasts from month to six weeks and
this includes the catching, sailing, packing
ana shipping. They are packed in casks and
tnese are loaded on coasting schooners that
come after them from Tasmania and Mel
bourne. ~