Ruddy duck

Review bycanaryswear· 2026-11-04

Also [it is called] yacatexotli. It is a duck. It comes here in the vanguard, before [other water] birds have come. It is named atapalcatl because if it is to rain on the next day, in the evening it begins, and all night [continues], to beat the water [with its wings]. Thus the water folk know that it will rain much when dawn breaks. It is named yacatexotli because its bill is light blue, small, wide. And near its head [the bill] is white. Its head is tawny; its wings, breast, back, tail are all tawny; only its belly is white [and] blackish. Its feet are black, wide, and small. It rears its young here; [it has] ten, fifteen, twenty young. Sometimes not all leave; some remain. They are edible.