Pecking order: how John Gould dined out on the birds of Australia

From rosella pie to the 'delicate' flesh of baby emus, the 19th century ornithologist relished the taste of the creatures he so meticulously studied Of all the changes to the study of ornithology in the past 200 years, the most striking, when reading John Gould's seven-volume 1848 treatise The Birds of Australia, is the apparent lack of interest among modern scientists in what their subjects taste like.Gould left no such questions unanswered. The prototype of his beautifully illustrated guide, digitised and made available online by the State Library of New South Wales, contains many tips for the keen sportsman on how best to shoot each of the featured birds and, where Gould had opportunity to sample them, what they tasted like. Continue reading...