MUTTON BIRDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 118, 21 May 1934, Page 3

MUTTON BIRDS.

DELICACY OF SEASON. HOW THEY ARE CAPTURED. MAORIS' PROFITABLE CALLING Mutton birds are now in season, and, on the chain of tiny islands extending to the east of Stewart Island. Maoris are busy catching the birds to supply the market with tills tasty luxury, states the writer of a special article which is published in the "Christchureh Times." The Maoris take the unfledged young after their parents have left them to fend for themselves.

The mutton bird, apart from its edi'ble value, is of great interest to ornithologists all over the world. This species of seabird, Puffinus grisens, is found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, the Straits of Magellan and the Auckland Islands. Adult mutton birds are the size of a small gull, and have black plumage. They fly continuously by day, never flying high above the water. The.y do not follow ships as do the members of the albatross family and gulls that frequent coastal waters. The birds are seen scouring the surface of the water, their dark plumage and sharply-pointed wings showing up now and again against the brigliter horizon, or in contrast to the crest of a wave.

Only One Egg. Having hatched one egg each and dutifully fed tlie chicks, the parent birds leave for warmer regions late in March or early April, and do not return to the breeding grounds again until the following spring, coining not in hundreds but in thousands. The air is black with them. On landing the birds hit the ground with a decided thud, breaking the force of the impact with a swift run. Their feet are webbed, but this does not hinder them from preparing their nests by scratching a hole similar to a small rabbit burrow, of a depth from loin to 48in, running parallel with, but into a hillside. The islands lying off the east coast af Stewart Island arc chosen for breeding grounds. These islands are small, comparatively bare, low outcrops of land lying in irregular formation from just below Bluff Harbour, to a little south of Paterson Inlet. They are the exclusive reserve of the Maori, and the secrets of the islands are most jealously guarded. No Visitors, Please. They lie beyond bounds for visitors, for the Marine Department will not permit launches to land tourists. Climatic conditions also help to make the islands secluded and. unsafe for all but those whose duty and business it is to visit them.

How -long it takes the chick to hatch is not generally known. The parents fly away just before sunrise in search of food, which they gather, consume and convert into a rich, oily fluid. At dusk they return in thousands, instinct telling them which hole to make for. They herald their arrival by a gentle cooing, not unlike the sound made by a ring dove. The youngster, at the same tinu. .sets up a most pitiful screech, which, if once heard emanating from underground in the first darkness of a moonless, cloudy night, will never be forgotten. "A most interesting anecdote is told in this connection. A sea captain has a bach on one of tlie islands, and when paying a visit one early summer, he noticed what appeared to be a hole under the doorstep. As he crossed the threshold his foot slipped and practically closed the opening. He drew his mate's attention to this and warned him to expect some interesting developments in the evening.

Mother's Rescue. Sure enough, when it was dark, there came a thud on the ground, followed shortly by a scratching, with occasionally some lumps of earth thrown against the door. From under the floor came the weird screech of a young chick answered by the cooing of the parent as she scratched open again the partly-closed burrow.

The islands are honeycombed with these burrows, and during the open season, which extends from April 1 to May 31, mutton-bird gatherers visit their areas, weather permitting. Some comp from Steward Island and many arrive from the mainland and camp for the season. The young get so fat that it is impossible for them to crawl or walk out of their burrows until they have lived on the fat absorbed from the parents during their period of nurture. Since the parents depart in late March it is from five to seven weeks, or sometimes longer, before the birds have lost their beautiful, long, white down and their size.

The down is replaced by feathers, and after emergence from the burrows the young are some time walking, flitting and wandering about their home before flio-ht feathers and plumage are forme:, to" enable them to fly north from the cold winters. Maori Methods. The Maori, in gleaning his harvest, puts his arm down the hole to ascertain the presence of a young bird. If thenole is deeper than his reach, he lias a pointed stick, which he twists in his thumb and finger when it meets resistance. If a bird is "at home," some down will come out with the stick. He then digs with a spade above where he determines the bird is sitting. Possessing himself of it, he quickly and painlessly kills it, squeezes out the balance of oil in its crop, and puts a twist of down in its throat to prevent any oil from flowing out on to the flesh to stain it and make plucking impossible The down is then plucked off and the bird is left to be salted and packed for market. Until quite recently, on account of the oilv nature of the down, it was left on the island to rot, but a Continental firm has evolved a process to extract the oil from it. thus -making the down of commercial value. An added income will accrue to the Maori from this source.

For his own use the Maori cures largo numbers of birds by salting them and storing them in seaweed. In most of the bays and inlets of these southern island? great quantities of large, flat seaweed fs growing. This is cut and strips a;v gathered of suitable size. By blowing air into these, bags are formed in which any number of mutton-birds are packed tightly The top and bottom are tied ami the birds will keep in an unopenedbag for months. In fact it is stated that tiiey would be good for two years.