Retro sci-fi and elusive birds
Retro science fiction is just full of surprises. Case in point: Clifford D. Simak's Strangers in the Universe (published 1957). It's a collection of short stories, one of which tells of the strange tribes of the planet Zan, known collectively as the Google race (their name is italicized throughout the story).

Tee-hee.


And I've recently made a pleasant discovery related to ZBS. In their audio drama Dreams of the Amazon, there's a lot of ambiance that was recorded on-location in the rain forests of Brazil. Occasionally, an ominous, ethereal groaning sound is heard, and a couple of characters remark that the tribes of the region say that that is the sound of "a restless spirit with one eye" looking for a body to inhabit. Later we learn that it's really just "a little bird with a big voice".

However, that bird is never identified, and for years, I wondered what sort of bird would make a sound like that. Thanks to the BBC's "The Life of Birds" series, I've finally been able to not only learn the bird's name, but see it vocalizing (using a pouch on its throat). This animal is so elusive that until the late 90s, it was never even filmed. Behold, the capuchinbird.