Surgeon Birds

Surgeon Birds (as they are called by Humans), or just Surgeons, are the native sapient inhabitants of Saturn's terraformed satellite, Calypso which has become one vast swamp that also doubles as a graveyard for starships.

Biology
Surgeon Birds are considered "startling" creatures, being described as 5 foot tall avian creatures roughly shaped like human beings, covered with feathers, a row of eyes that surround all sides of its head, as well as four arms that end in flexible tentacles which are surprisingly dexterous.

Culture and society
Surgeon Birds are a seemingly primitive but social species that make their homes in small villages spread over Calypso's swamps, with a least seven villages known to exist, and they prefer to avoid being seen unless necessary. Despite their primitive lifestyle, Surgeon Birds notably have a very strong fascination with anatomy and experimental surgery, hence the name given to them by humans, and they are surprisingly adept at it and have the necessary tools and equipment to make all manner of surgery possible. Surgeon Birds have a particular fondness for experimenting on humans who have crash landed on Calypso, using them as guinea pigs for all manner of experiments that are downright inhumane or horrific, such as attaching multiple limbs from dead subjects to a living subject in bizarre places or switching sensory nerves that completely alter one's perception in disturbing ways, and although their experiments are unusual and disturbing, they are so adept that not only can they even save those on the brink of death but the surgery will appear seamless, as even a human who had his brain transplanted into a new body showed no signs of having undergone surgery.

Their exact history and origin is unknown, but they have had conflicts with Earth at various points in the past due to their experiments on civilians and even World Police officers who have crash landed on their world. This had forced Earth's federation to threaten Calypso's natives should they continue to experiment on injured humans, a promise which the Surgeon Birds seemingly kept. However their last known operation involved actually saving the life of human scientist John Malowan by transplanting his brain in the recently deceased body of Lt. Randy Morgan in a genuine attempt to save the man's life. When the World Police found out about the surgery (although they were not aware of the brain transplant), they decided to leave the Surgeon Birds be as this surgery was actually seen as beneficial.

Surgeon Birds also grew Dream Apples, a highly narcotic fruit that had been banned by the World Police. Although it was unknown if they grew these for themselves or for Dream Apple smugglers like Lt. Randy Morgan, but whatever the reason, Morgan harvested these apples for himself and used his status to cover up the Dream Apple farm on Calypso.

Appearances

 * Mysterious Traveler - "Murder in 2952" (Apr 29, 1952)