Note 566 — Chapter VI · THE FINDING OF STRANGE COASTS.
Reading edition
Footnote 566: These tropical birds are called soldados, or "soldiers," because their stately attitudes remind one of sentinels on duty. The whole town of Angostura, in Venezuela, was one day frightened out of its wits by the sudden appearance of a flock of these cranes on the summit of a neighbouring hill. They were mistaken for a war-party of Indians. Humboldt, Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, tom. ii. p. 314.[Back to Main Text]