Laughing Falcon

Laughing Falcon (Herpetotheres cachinnans), HUAC-TLI₂

“It sings in this manner: sometimes it laughs like some man; like a man speaking it can pronounce these words: yeccan, yeccan, yeccan. When it laughs, it says ha ha ha ha ha, ha hay, ha hay, hay hay, ay. Especially when it finds its food it really laughs" (FC, p. 42).

Audio recording by Adam Betuel. From the Macauley Library ML436679641.

Cf. page 65 in The Aztec Fascination with Birds monograph.

References Cited
Quoted material from the Florentine Codex (FC): Reprinted from Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, Book 11, Earthly Things¸ by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, translated by Arthur J.O. Anderson, and Charles E. Dibble with permission from School for American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Copyright 1981.