What is "mutton bird"

Mutton \Mut"ton\, n. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]

1. A sheep. [Obs.]
   --Chapman.

   Not so much ground as will feed a mutton.
   --Sir H. Sidney.

   Muttons, beeves, and porkers are good old words for the living quadrupeds.
   --Hallam.

2. The flesh of a sheep.

   The fat of roasted mutton or beef.
   --Swift.

3. A loose woman; a prostitute. [Obs.]

   Mutton bird (Zo["o]l.), the Australian short-tailed petrel ( Nectris brevicaudus).

   Mutton chop, a rib of mutton for broiling, with the end of the bone at the smaller part chopped off.

   Mutton fish (Zo["o]l.), the American eelpout. See Eelpout.

   Mutton fist, a big brawny fist or hand. [Colloq.]
   --Dryden.

   Mutton monger, a pimp. [Low & Obs.]
   --Chapman.

   To return to one's muttons. [A translation of a phrase from a farce by De Brueys, revenons [`a] nos moutons let us return to our sheep.] To return to one's topic, subject of discussion, etc. [Humorous]

   I willingly return to my muttons.
   --H. R. Haweis.

alt. (context chiefly Australia NZ English) Any of various seabirds whose flesh is said to taste like mutton when cooked, especially ''Puffinus griseus'', ''Puffinus tenuirostris'', or a petrel of the genus ''Pterodroma''. n. (context chiefly Australia NZ English) Any of various seabirds whose flesh is said to taste like mutton when cooked, especially ''Puffinus griseus'', ''Puffinus tenuirostris'', or a petrel of the genus ''Pterodroma''.