I reckon that story and others like it would exist in many books. Certainly the barnacle goose / barnacle one does. Probably with almost as many variations.
I also think most cultures have similarly somewhat wacky folk tales.
One thing of interest was an Attenborough doco I saw recently in which he talked with aboriginal people of the Qld coast who have stories about the sea bed,
that could not be known from observations in recent period of many centuries, yet their stories are supported by clear geological evidence obtained by modern methods. Is it true, coincidence, a small random thing that happens to match? Who knows.
Philip
From: David McDonald (personal) [
Sent: Thursday, 2 April, 2020 10:16 AM
To: canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Isolation bird trivia questions ...
Beware what you wish for ... I have a book Todd, FS 1994,
10,001 titillating tidbits of avian trivia, Ibis, San Diego, CA ... one a day should last us until the locked-down-at-home period ends?
David
On 2020-04-02 09:08, Terry Bell wrote:
Was the correct answer supplied by John Harris to the isolation trivia question.
Methinks that within COG ranks there are several classical scholars.
It may be interest that this information came from a 592 page book entitled Birds and People by Mark Cotter, photos by David Tipling, purchased for $5 at the Rotary book fair. Something of a bargain for this publication originally cost UK 40 pounds sterling.
