Quetzal ("Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary"), from the Nahuatl root = "stand up" used to refer to an upstanding plume of feathers. The word entered English through Spanish. The word "quetzal" was originally used for just the resplendent quetzal, the long-tailed quetzal of Guatemala, (more specifically a town called Petén) which is the national bird and the name of the currency of Guatemala. It still often refers to that bird specifically but now also names all the species of the genera "Pharomachrus" and "Euptilotis". "Pharomachrus" is from Ancient Greek , "mantle", and , "long", referring to the wing and tail coverts of the
The Resplendent Quetzal The Resplendent Quetzal "The Resplendent Quetzal" is a short story by Margaret Atwood. It was published in the collection "Dancing Girls & Other Stories" in 1977. Sarah and Edward are on a vacation in Mexico, and are visiting uninteresting tourist locations. They are married, but do not get along well. Sarah describes Edward's passions (such as birdwatching) as "compulsions" which are "awkward and boyish". They merely make her tired. She is "bland and pale and plump and smug". Things were once different between them, but Sarah had a miscarriage and they have become increasingly uninterested in each other since. Their