Translation notes

How the Flamingoes Got Their Stockings: The name tatù is applied also to the armadillo.

The Alligator War: Where we say “walnut and mahogany” the Argentine text reads quebracho and lapacho, hardwood trees known to commerce under their Spanish names and common in the Chaco region. We say “sturgeon.” The word used by Quiroga is surubì, a large South American river fish of the torpedo family (pseudo-platystoma coruscans).

The Blind Doe: The stingless bees in question are those called yatei or mirì in the Guarani dialect. Our “anteater” is the variety found in Northern Argentina, there known as the oso hormiguero. The Spanish name is tamandua, and the scientific, mirmecophaga tridactyla.

The Story of Two Raccoon Cubs and Two Man Cubs: Where we say “raccoon” the Spanish text has coatì (nasua narica), biologically a relative of the bear family.

How the Rays Defended the Ford: Where we say “shiner,” the Argentine text has dorado, a fish apparently of the salmon family, for which the scientific name is salminus platensis. P. 18: The river-pig is the carpincho, a river rodent, and the largest of all surviving rodents, known to zoölogists as hydroceros capibara. The carpincho can be tamed, and trained to follow its master around like a dog.

The Lazy Bee: The sensitive plant in question is of the variety called mimosa pudica.

A. L.