"The Birdmen of Big Dog Island"

A story of mutton-bird oil, gunny, and “squabs-in-aspic:”

Each year millions of short-tailed shearwaters, also known as mutton-birds nest on islands around Australia’s south-eastern coastline. Since the early years of European settlement, the chicks have been hunted from their nesting burrows. Trish Ainslie and Roger Garwood visited the few remaining birders on Great Dog Island in Bass Straight to record their rare lifestyle.

Click here to read this interesting account of a dying cultural tradition, courtesy of the National Library of Australia.