“MOTHER CAREY’S CHICKENS”
“Mother Carey’s Chickens/ ’or stormy! petrels, convey to the mariners of all i nations apprehensions of fearful dan- j gens, owing probably to the appearance I of the birds, when perhaps a thousand j miles from any land, apparently untired and seldom seen resting or eating. Out-flying the blast and the driving rain, The petrel telleth her tale in vain ; For the mariner curseth the warning bird. Who bringeth him news of storms we heard. Pennant says that the petrels caution the seaman of the approach of a tempest by collecting under tile stern of a ship. They, appear to be very fond of fat and grease, to obtain which they will follow in the wake of ships for great distances. The superstitious regard which sailors entertain for the little harbingers of a storm is also said to arise from their belief that the birds follow ships for the purpose of picking up the souls of seamen lost in tempests, and carrying them to the bosom of their Creator.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19310220.2.15
Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 20 February 1931, Page 3
Word Count
172“MOTHER CAREY’S CHICKENS” Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 20 February 1931, Page 3
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