Saturday, August 14, 2010

Puerto Rican Coqui

The little frog of Puerto Rico with its distinctive sound, El Coqui  as it is called, is found all over the island. The frog is called Coqui, because of the loud sound the males make at night. This sound, is the way the Coquies talk or sing to each other.

Many years ago, I heard a story - don't know if its true- about a Spanish nun who was in Puerto Rico for a short time and fell in love with the Coqui, and decided to take one Coqui with her back to Spain.  Back in Spain, the Coqui would sing every night.  Two weeks passed and the Coqui stopped singing.  The nun wondered if the little frog was ill.  Four days later, the Coqui died.  As the story goes, the Coqui had died of loneliness.  It was singing - talking- but got no response.  Perhaps, if she had taken a pair of the little frog, they would have kept each other company.

Here is a link to images and sounds of the Coqui:




                                                                  
 



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