THE MET'CO

This rather interesting legend is found among the First Nations of Labrador.  It concerns a gigantic bird called the met'co, which may be a form of the Thunderbird.  It once carried off a boy and took him to its nest.  We are not told whether there were any nestlings in the nest, but happily the boy remained uneaten.  All through the summer he lived in the nest.  Perhaps the Met'co thought of him as a pet.  We are not told what he ate.  Maybe the Met'co was bringing him tasty tidbits with a view to fattening him up to be devoured later.  Then one day at summer's end, the bird took off and the boy clung to its leg.  From this he detached himself when his captor was near or on the ground and thus he survived the ordeal.