On the "Mexican Eagle": The bird on the Mexican flag does look more like a
Golden Eagle, however, given the ambiguity in translating the term "aquila"
into vernacular English and the fact that Golden Eagles would likely have
been far less common than the Crested Caracara (which, however, is more
often called a "quebrantahuesos," that is, "bone breaker"), it's hard to say
for sure what the legendary bird in fact was that perched on the cactus with
the snake marking the site where the Aztecs were to build their capital,
Tenochtitlan.

In any case, Crested Caracaras need not have come from Mexico, as they are
common in south Texas between Laredo and Falcon Dam, sharing the habitat
with lots of Harris's Hawks, a favorite of beginning falconers, and not
uncommon just north of Tucson, also with Harris's Hawks.

Gene Hunn, Seattle, hunnhome at accessone.com

At 09:02 PM 1/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
> Michael and friends--The Mexican national bird is the Golden Eagle
portrayed
>on the national flage killing a snake atop a cactus. The people we now call
>Aztecs came from the north of Mexico City. Some believe they originated in
>what is how the U.S. Southwest, and their language, Nahautl, still widely
>spoken, I believe is related to SW U.S. indigeneous languages.
>
> As I recall, the Aztecs were a wandering, warlike people who called
>themselves Mexicas and had a legend that they should found an empire on the
>spot where they saw a Golden Eagle killing a snake. They saw such an event
>near what is now Mexico City.
>
> Yours,
>
> Jim Barton
> redwing1986 at mediaone.net
> Cambridge, MA
>
>
>
>Michael Price wrote:
>
>> Hi Tweets,
>>
>> Fred Bird writes:
>>
>> >The last paragraph reads in part: "tribal police and the FBI said they has
>> >discovered the body of Artei Cruz, 22, a Mexican national who had been
>> >living on the reservation. He was last seen Dec. 23, and reported missing
>> >>Jan. 2."
>> >
>> >>Coincidental or what?
>>
>> Far from being a 'noonee-noonee' Twilight Zone coincidence, this whole thing
>> would make a perfect everday happenstance kind of sense if he were the owner
>> and keeper of the caracara. Isn't it the national bird of Mexico? What if he
>> kept it as some keep other raptor species: to identify with alleged totemic
>> qualities: power, strength, clarity of vision, etc.?
>>
>> Considering his sad end, the lesson might be that totemic identification, at
>> least for those qualities, might be a bit of a dry well.
>>
>> Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
>> Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery and change;
>> mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
>> Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
>
>
>
>
>