Animal Figures in the Maya Codices Part 3

IGUANA. Of the lizards represented, the iguana (Maya _hu_) is the most striking, and is readily identified on account of the prominent spines along the back. As noted by Stempell, there are two or three species of large lizards in Central America commonly called iguana, and it is probable that the one here considered is the _Ctenosaura acanthura_ of Yucatan or _Iguana tuberculata_ of South and Central America.

In the ma.n.u.scripts the iguana is almost exclusively represented as an offering (Pl. 12, figs. 1-6). It is usually found on top of the _Kan_ sign, meaning maize or bread,[318-*] and this, in turn, resting in a bowl (Pl. 12, figs. 3, 4, 6). Landa (1864, p. 230)[318-] gives a pleasing confirmation of this offering of an iguana with bread. It is possible that the object shown in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 12b (Pl. 12, fig. 13) may be the conventionalized representation of this lizard. It must be admitted that this interpretation is very doubtful. The triangular points suggest the lizard, but the pointed character of the sign as a whole in no way resembles the back of this reptile. It is found a.s.sociated with three _Kan_ signs. In Cakchiquel, a dialect of the Maya stock, _K'an_, according to Guzman and Brinton (1893, p. 24) is the name applied to the female of the iguana or the lizard, and this is believed to be the original sense of the Maya term. It may also be noted that the Nahua day sign _Cuetzpalin_, meaning lizard, is the one which corresponds with the Maya day _Kan_. Pl. 12, figs. 10, 12, 14, show representations of the day corresponding to _Cuetzpalin_ in the Aubin and Nuttall codices. These show a stout spineless species with a short thick tail and may be the Gila monster (_Heloderma horridum_), a large and somewhat poisonous species having much these proportions.

Further offerings are shown in Pl. 12, figs. 7, 8. These seem to be the heads and forefeet of lizards, but, from the shape of the head, perhaps not of iguanas.

In Stela D of Copan, the _Uinal_ period glyph seems to be represented by a spineless lizard covered with scales (Pl. 12, fig. 9). Frog-like characteristics also appear. This stone monument is remarkable from the fact that the glyphs are all more or less realistic representations of human and animal forms. It should be noted that there certainly seems to be some connection between the _Uinal_ period glyph and the lizard. Pl.

13, fig. 9, represents a _Uinal_ glyph from the Temple of the Foliated Cross at Palenque and the lizard form is clearly seen in the eyebrow and the upper jaw. Compare also Pl. 13, fig. 11, and Pl. 28, fig. 3. A collection of glyphs of this period shows clearly the lizard-like character of the face.

That some connection existed between the lizard and the idea of rain seems clear from a reference in the _Relacion de la Ciudad de Merida_ (1900, p. 51).[319-*] Finally the lizard is shown in Dresden 3a (Pl. 12, fig. 11) directly in front of G.o.d H beside the scene of human sacrifice.

CROCODILE. The text figure (1) shows a dorsal view of a crocodile (Maya, _ayin_) carved on the top of Altar T at Copan. The general form is considerably conventionalized with limbs elongated and provided with human hands and long toes. The protuberances of the back are roughly shown by oval markings, which are here continued on the legs. The large scales of the ventral surfaces also appear at the sides of the body, and along the posterior edges of the limbs. The tail is shortened and bifurcate. The most interesting portion, however, is the head. The snout is distinctly pinched in at the base, though broadened again distally.

In the alligator the snout is broad and tapers but little. As in other representations of the crocodile, the lower jaw does not appear, and even in this dorsal view the artist seems to have deemed it necessary to show the row of teeth as if in side view, or as though they projected laterally from the mouth. What may represent ears or ear plugs are shown one on each side behind the eyes. There are few other examples of full drawings of the crocodile in the Maya writings. Dresden 74 shows an animal which has been considered to represent a crocodile or alligator but it seems to have more of the characteristics of a lizard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.

TOP OF ALTAR. T. COPAN.]

Figures of a crocodile (_Crocodilus america.n.u.s_) are frequent in the Nuttall Codex, where there is one large figure of the entire animal (Pl.

13, fig. 8), making its way along under water. It is shown with numerous dorsal spines, a long tail, and powerful claws. Curiously, however, it has no lower jaw and the same is true of the numerous glyphs representing the head of the animal. This is so p.r.o.nounced a characteristic, that it may be doubted if the open-mouthed head and the single limb shown in Pl. 13, fig. 2, really picture the same animal, though otherwise apparently referable to the crocodile. In the various glyphs showing the head of this species, the prominent, elongate eyebrow and the absence of the lower jaw are noteworthy points, while the teeth may vary in number from three to six.

The glyphs (Pl. 13, figs. 1, 3-7) represent the Nahua day sign _c.i.p.actli_ corresponding to the Maya day _Imix_. In the band of constellation signs in Dresden 52b (Pl. 13, fig. 10), there occurs a single figure with a long curled eyebrow and lacking the lower jaw. In the upper jaw three teeth are indicated. A comparison of this figure with the glyphs in the Nuttall Codex seems to leave little doubt that it represents a crocodile. This is the sign which Forstemann (1906, p. 206) interprets as standing for Saturn. Pl. 13, fig. 12, is certainly the same sign as it stands in relatively the same position in the constellation band on Dresden 53a. It represents the highly conventionalized head of a crocodile. On Stela 10 from Piedras Negras (Maler, 1901-1903, Pl. 19) the same glyph is seen.

The range of the alligator in North America does not extend to Yucatan, hence the crocodile, which does occur there, is taken as the original of all these figures. There is nothing in the latter that would distinguish it from the alligator.

TURTLES. Representations of the turtle (Maya, _ak_) are not uncommon among the Mayas. At Uxmal there is a ruined building called _Casa de las Tortugas_ on which at intervals around the cornice there are carvings of turtles. Turtles of at least two species occur in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s.

With one exception, they seem to be limited to this codex. That shown on Pl. 14, figs. 1-3, 5, is a large species with the dorsal scutes represented by large diamond-shaped pieces. There is little that might be considered distinctive about these turtles, although one (Pl. 14, fig. 5) has the anterior paddles much larger than the posterior, indicating a sea turtle. What is doubtless the same turtle is pictured in several places in the Nuttall Codex. In one of the figures in the latter ma.n.u.script, the sh.e.l.l is shown apparently in use as a s.h.i.+eld (Pl.

14, fig. 4). This would indicate one of the large sea turtles, and there is not much doubt that either the Loggerhead turtle (_Thala.s.sochelys cephalo_) or the Hawksbill (_Chelone imbricata_) is here intended.

Quite another species is that shown in Pl. 14, fig. 6. That this is a freshwater turtle is plainly indicated by the parasitic leeches that are noted fastened by their round sucking-discs to the sides of its body.

The long neck, pointed snout, and apparent limitation of the dorsal spinous scutes to the central area of the back may indicate the snapping turtle (_Chelydra serpentina_) or possibly a species of the genus _Cinosternum_ (probably _C. leucostomum_). It is hardly likely that it is one of the true soft-sh.e.l.led turtles (_Trionyx_), as the range of that genus is not known to include Mexico. The turtle from Nuttall 43 (Pl. 14, fig. 11) may belong to the same species as its scutes seem rather few, or it may be that the view shown here is of the ventral side and that the scales indicate the small plastron of one of the sea turtles.

The turtle appears alone as one of the figures in the _tonalamatl_ in several cases in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s, 13a, 17a (Pl. 14, fig. 3), 72b (Pl. 14, fig. 6). It is found a.s.sociated with the toad appearing in the rain in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 17b (Pl. 14, fig. 2) and alone in the rain in 13a. In Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 81c (Pl. 14, fig. 5), it appears in front of an unidentifiable G.o.d.

Sch.e.l.lhas has called the turtle an animal symbolical of the lightning basing his opinion, as Brinton (1895, p. 74) tells us, on Dresden 40b where a human figure with animal head is holding two torches in his hands. This figure does not seem to us to represent a turtle, as is commonly supposed, but a parrot, as will be pointed out later (p. 343).

Forstemann (1902, p. 27) identifies the turtle with the summer solstice, as has been noted before, explaining that the animal is slow of motion, and is taken to represent the time when the sun seems to stand still. He bases his theory (1904, p. 423) in part on the fact that the sign for the Maya month _Kayab_, which is the month in which the summer solstice occurs, shows the face of the turtle (Pl. 14, fig. 10).

This undoubtedly is correct, but he seems to us wrong in cla.s.sing as turtles the figure in Dresden 40b (Pl. 25, fig. 1) with its accompanying glyph (Pl. 25, fig. 6).

The turtle is found in connection with two sun (_kin_) signs beneath a constellation band in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 71a. Resting upon his body are three _Cauac_ signs. The single representation of the turtle in the Dresden Codex is on page 49 (Pl. 14, fig. 12) where a G.o.d is pictured with a turtle's head. The heavy sharp beak indicates that he represents one of the sea turtles previously mentioned. He is shown transfixed by a spear and corresponds to the other figures in the lower parts of pp.

46-50. These all have some connection with the Venus period which is considered in these pages.[323-*]

A number of glyphs representing the turtle are found throughout the codices (Pl. 14, figs. 7-10). They are all characterized by the heavy beak. It may be noted that these glyphs are virtually the same as the sign for the first _a_ in Landa's alphabet. As the turtle is called _ak_ or _aak_ in Maya, the reason is clear for the selection of this sign for an _a_ sound. These turtle glyphs often occur alone; one, however, (Pl.

14, fig. 7) is found in connection with the swimming turtle in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 17a (Pl. 14, fig. 3). Figs. 7-9 agree in having the small scrolls at the posterior end of the eye. The head shown in Pl. 14, fig. 10, has quite a different eye, though otherwise similar. Its resemblance to the glyph on Pl. 25, fig. 9, is marked and suggests the parrot. Sch.e.l.lhas (1904, p. 44) gives in his fig. 64, a glyph for the turtle which seems clearly to be a glyph for the parrot (Pl. 25, fig.

7).

AVES

HERONS (_Ardea herodias_; _Hydrana.s.sa tricolor ruficollis_). Only a few water birds are shown in the Maya works. Several are found, however, that seem to picture herons (Pl. 15, figs. 1-7). The best of these (fig.

5), a carving from the west side panel of the Temple of the Cross at Palenque shows a crested heron standing on one foot and holding in its bill a fish. A second figure (Pl. 15, fig. 1) is from the stucco ornament from the Palace, House B, at Palenque. It is less carefully executed, but seems to be a long-necked bird with a crest and outspread wings curiously conventionalized. In the Nuttall Codex there is another unmistakable heron (Pl. 15, fig. 4) with the same general characteristics, though the crest is less prominent, here represented as a series of erectile feathers separated at their tips. This elongation of the crest seems to be carried still farther in what seems to be the head and neck of a heron from Dresden 37b (Pl. 15, fig. 3) with erectile feathers at intervals along its length.

The heron is seldom employed as a head-dress. In the Lower Chamber of the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza, one of the warriors wears a bird head-dress (Pl. 15, fig. 2), which from the length of the bill is probably made from a heron's head, though the crest seems greatly exaggerated. The bas-relief on which this is found is strongly Nahua in feeling and execution. This head covering may indicate, according to the Nahua fas.h.i.+on, the tribe to which the warrior belongs. Again in Dresden 36a (Pl. 15, fig. 7), a man is shown wearing as a head-dress the head and neck of a heron that holds in its bill a fish. This head resembles very closely that of the heron in fig. 1. What appears to be a similar head is shown in Pl. 15, fig. 6. It is interesting to note that the heron with a fish (Pl. 15, fig. 5) from Palenque also forms a part of a complicated head-dress.

It is, of course, uncertain to which of the several herons occurring in Central America these representations refer. Possibly the Great Blue heron (_Ardea herodias_) or the Louisiana heron (_Hydrana.s.sa tricolor ruficollis_) is intended. It seems not unlikely also, that one of the white egrets may be shown as their crests are fairly conspicuous.

FRIGATE-BIRD (_Fregata aquila_). We have included here two figures (Pl.

15, figs. 8, 9) that undoubtedly represent a single species of bird. It is characterized by a deeply forked tail and long beak, which has part way on its length, a circular object surrounded by a circle of dots. It seems still problematical what this object may be. In one figure (fig.

9), the beak is strongly hooked, in the other (fig. 8) it is straight, but as the latter is plainly a much more carelessly made drawing, we may infer that the hooked bill is more nearly correct. This would exclude the Terns (_Sterna_), to which Stempell has referred the figures. It seems probable that the frigate-bird (_Fregata aquila_) is the species intended, as this is not only a large conspicuous form on these coasts, but it has a long and strongly hooked beak and forked tail. The length of the beak would probably exclude from consideration, the swallow-tailed kite that also occurs in the region.

Both these birds are pictured, evidently as an offering or sacrifice. It is very seldom that the whole bird is represented in this connection, and still more infrequent to find anything but the turkey, which is the usual bird of sacrifice. The figure from the Dresden Codex (Pl. 15, fig.

9) rests upon the usual bowl or jar, that from the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s (Pl.

15, fig. 8) is pictured upon a grotesque animal head, three _Kan_ signs and these upon the jar.

In the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 20c, 21c, there occur several representations of man-like forms with very peculiar heads. The latter are each provided with a beak-like projection, on which appears the circle surrounded by dots noted above in connection with the frigate-bird. Brinton concludes that this mystic symbol is a representation of the curious k.n.o.b on the bill of the male white pelican, and therefore identifies these curious figures as pelicans. Stempell follows Brinton in this, but considers that they are the brown pelican (_P. fuscus_), since the white pelican is rare or casual, as far south as Yucatan. Unfortunately, however, for this supposition, the brown pelican lacks the curious k.n.o.b that Brinton believed to be represented by the circle of dots. Moreover, this same sign occurs on the drawings of the bills of the frigate-bird and the ocellated turkey, and is evidently not of specific significance. To our minds it is doubtful if the figures under discussion are birds at all, and we are unable to a.s.sign them a name with any degree of confidence. A peculiar glyph occurs in connection with them which may be an aid to their ultimate identification. Brinton calls the glyph the "fish and oyster sign."

OCELLATED TURKEY (_Agriocharis ocellata_). This turkey (Maya _ku[?.]_) is an important species in the Maya economy, and is seen frequently in the ma.n.u.scripts. This is a smaller bird than the more northern true turkey (_Meleagris_) and is characterized by the presence of curious erect k.n.o.bs on the top of the naked head. These are shown in conventionalized form in the various figures (Pl. 16), and afford a ready means of identification. On the bill of the bird shown in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 10b (Pl. 16, fig. 2) occurs again the curious symbol, a circle surrounded by dots, previously noted under the frigate-bird and pelican. It probably has some special significance. Other figures of ocellated turkeys show but little in addition to the points just discussed. One shown in Pl. 16, fig. 7, from Codex Vatica.n.u.s 3773, however, has a circular ring about the eye and the wattles are indicated as projections merely. In fig. 13, they are apparently shown as stalked k.n.o.bs found elsewhere in connection with serpent head ornaments. It is only the head in this latter figure, which is considered in this interpretation.

In the Nuttall Codex, there frequently occur representations of a bird that was evidently used for sacrificial purposes. It is shown with erectile head feathers and a ring of circular marks about the eye (Pl.

26, figs. 12, 14; Pl. 27, figs. 2-3) or with concentric circles (Pl. 27, fig. 1). These figures are not surely identifiable, but probably represent this turkey. Possibly they are the chachalaca (_Ortalis vetula pallidiventris_), a gallinaceous bird, commonly kept in semi-domestication in Mexico, whose bare eye ring and slightly erectile head feathers may be represented by the drawings. It is probable that this turkey is the bird represented frequently in the Maya codices as a bird of sacrifice. The head alone usually appears in this connection, among other places, in Dresden 34a (Pl. 16, fig. 10), 41c (fig. 14), 29c (fig. 16), 28c (fig. 17), and in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 12b (Pl. 16, fig. 11), 105b (fig. 12), 107b (fig. 15). In several of these places the head is represented as resting on one or more _Kan_ signs, again meaning bread, as well as on the vessel or jar. In Dresden 26c (Pl. 16, fig. 9), the whole turkey is pictured as an offering, as in the preceding case noted in Dresden 35a (Pl. 15, fig. 9). The whole bird as an offering may also appear in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 4a (Pl. 16, fig. 4) corresponding to the offering of venison and iguana on the following pages. This representation of the entire bird is very rare although the fish, when used as an offering, is always represented as a whole and the iguana is in most cases when used in the same connection. Landa (1864, p.

222)[327-*] confirms the offering of the heads of birds with bread.

It is, however, the sacrifice of a bird, probably a turkey, by decapitating, that is especially interesting, as the operation as shown in the Dresden Codex 25c (Pl. 26, fig. 2), 26c, 27c, 28c, in the rites of the four years, is described in full by Landa. In the codex, a priest is represented as holding in his hand before an altar, a headless bird.

Landa (1864, pp. 212, 218, 224, 228)[327-] tells us that in the _Kan_, the _Muluc_, the _Ix_, and the _Cauac_ years, the priests burnt incense to the idol, decapitated a "_gallina_" (undoubtedly a turkey), and presented it to the G.o.d.

The turkey is also used as a head-dress. Only in one case, however, Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 95c (Pl. 16, fig. 5), is the whole bird represented in this connection. This is clearly of totemic significance here, as it occurs in that part of the codex where birth and infant baptism are shown. In many other places there are curious partial representations of bird heads in the front of head-dresses which may or may not be identified as heads of turkeys. Among these are the head-dress of G.o.d H in Dresden 7c, of G.o.d E in Dresden 11e, of G.o.d C in Dresden 13b, of G.o.d A in Dresden 23c, and a female divinity in Dresden 20a (Pl. 16, fig.

13). Sch.e.l.lhas (1904, p. 43) identifies these birds as vultures.

That the turkey is connected with the rain seems clear. This is especially the case among the Nahuas. In the Aubin ma.n.u.script the rain G.o.d, _Tlaloc_, often appears in the disguise of the turkey-c.o.c.k (_uexolotl_), and in the Vatica.n.u.s 3773, 14, the turkey (Pl. 16, fig. 7) is represented in the "House of Rain," in contrast to the owl shown in the "House of Drought" (Seler, 1902-1903, p. 75). It might be noted also that Fewkes (1892, p. 228) shows that the turkey is emblematic of the rain among the pueblo peoples. The same idea seems to be present among the Mayas, as we note in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 10b (Pl. 16, fig. 2) the turkey is pictured in the rain and surrounded on three sides by bands of constellation signs.

Two methods of capturing the turkey are shown in the Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 93a and 91a (Pl. 16, figs. 1, 3). By the first, the bird is captured alive in a sort of wicker basket, which drops over it at the proper moment.

The second method is by the "twich-up" or snare, which consists of a noose tied to a bent sapling and properly baited. In connection with Pl.

16, fig. 1, it may be suggested that possibly this represents a cage rather than a trap, in which the bird is confined. The Lacandones at the present time often keep their totem animals in captivity (Tozzer, 1907, p. 40).

KING VULTURE (_Sarcorhamphus papa_). Numerous figures of vultures appear in the codices and elsewhere. Indeed, they are among the most common of the birds depicted. Two species only seem to occur in the writings, the king vulture and the black vulture. The former is a large black and white bird with the head and the upper part of the neck unfeathered, except for numerous short, almost bristle-like plumules. These naked portions are often colored red and there is a large more or less squarish fleshy k.n.o.b at the base of the upper ramus of the beak. This conspicuous protuberance has been seized upon as a characteristic in the conventionalized figures, and serves to identify the king from the black vulture. In addition, a series of concentric circles about the eye seems to be a rather constant mark of the king vulture, though they are also sometimes found in connection with figures which, from the absence of the rostral k.n.o.b, must represent black vultures (Pl. 18, figs. 18, 27; Pl. 19, figs. 7, 10, 11). In the case of the bird shown in Pl. 19, fig.

1, the k.n.o.b is hardly apparent, and the same is true of Pl. 19, fig. 13.

Both these may represent king vultures. A remarkable figure is that shown in Pl. 17, fig. 4, in which an ocellated turkey and a king vulture confront each other with necks intertwined. The short hair-like black feathers of the head are represented in this as well as in Pl. 17, fig.

11, and in the glyph carved in stone (Pl. 17, fig. 10), which from the presence of the k.n.o.b is probably a king vulture. The characteristic k.n.o.b is shown in a variety of ways. Thus, in Pl. 17, fig. 1, it is greatly developed and resembles a large horn with a falcate tip. In Pl. 17, fig.

4, it is sharply angular and nearly square. Frequently, it is a circle with a centered ring surmounted by one or two additional rings or terminated by a mitre-shaped structure (Pl. 17, figs. 2, 5-7, 8-12). A very simple form was found in the carving shown in Pl. 17, fig. 13, where a long projecting k.n.o.b is seen at the base of the culmen.

The king vulture seems to have a part to play as a mythological being, as it is pictured as a G.o.d with human body and bird head in the act of cohabiting with a woman in Dresden 19a, and with a dog in Dresden 13c (Pl. 17, fig. 3). Moreover, the same vulture G.o.d is represented on a blue background and under a band of constellation signs in Dresden 38b, and is also to be noted in Dresden 8a. Forstemann (1906, p. 66) shows that the thirteenth day of the Maya month is reached in the _tonalamatl_ reckoning at this place. This day is _Cib_, which corresponds to the Nahua day _Cozcaquauhtli_, which has the meaning vulture, and here, as previously noted, the vulture G.o.d is represented. In Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 22c (Pl. 17, fig. 2) and 10a,[330-*] the king vulture appears alone, in the first instance with a blue background, and in the second with a background representing rain. Rain is also shown in connection with the vulture G.o.d in Dresden 38b, and the black vulture in Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 18b (Pl. 19, fig. 13).

The king vulture is found employed as a head-dress twice out of the three times it appears in any connection with female figures, Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s 26c (Pl. 17, fig. 12) with male figure, and 94c (Pl. 17, fig. 11) and 95c with female figures. The last two clearly have to do with the baptism and naming of infants, as previously explained.

The study of the glyph used to indicate the vulture is interesting, for we find it recurring again and again throughout the Maya codices and often when there is no other drawing of the animal, as in Dresden 39c (Pl. 17, fig. 5; Pl. 18, fig. 19). The first example (glyph 6) is clearly the head of the king vulture, whereas the second (glyph 3) is probably the head of the black vulture. The glyph in Dresden 38b (Pl.

17, fig. 7) appears in connection with the vulture G.o.d directly below it. In Dresden 11b (Pl. 18, fig. 1), it occurs alone and no figure appears in the usual place below. The _Tun_ period glyph (Pl. 17, fig.

10) frequently shows vulture characteristics especially in the nostril of the face. The teeth, however, often appearing in the _Tun_ glyph would be against this theory. The blending of bird and mammal characteristics is not uncommon in the Maya drawings, however.

The Nahua day sign, _Cozcaquauhtli_, as previously noted, has the meaning vulture, and we naturally find this bird frequently represented in the Mexican codices. In the Nuttall Codex, the head of the king vulture occurs repeatedly as a glyph for this day. In its less modified forms (Pl. 18, figs. 2-4), the beak is merely a pair of flattened rami, surmounted proximally by the conspicuous quadrangular k.n.o.b. The minute hair-like feathers on the otherwise naked head are shown as a fringe at the throat and crown, while a conventionalized ear is represented posteriorly. A series of interesting figures (Pl. 18, figs. 5-10) ill.u.s.trates steps in the further reduction of this head to a small glyph in which only the beak with its large squarish k.n.o.b remains (Pl. 18, fig. 10).

BLACK VULTURE (_Catharista urubu_). It is difficult to a.s.sign any single characteristic to the figures representing the black vulture (Maya, _t[vs.]om_) other than the long raptorial beak. A number of drawings probably depict black vultures, though this cannot be certainly affirmed. Such are those shown in Pl. 18, figs. 11, 12, 14, 17; Pl. 19, figs. 2-4, 13, 14. Stempell considers the vulture shown in Pl. 18, fig.

13, to be a king vulture, but it has no k.n.o.b on the beak, and thus is quite likely the black vulture. The fact that its head is shaped much like that of the G.o.d with the king vulture head (Pl. 17, fig. 3) would indicate merely the individuality of the artist. The coloring of the species under discussion is uniformly black in the Dresden and Tro-Cortesia.n.u.s, except in certain cases where the birds are shown in outline only, as in Pl. 19, fig. 12. It is not certain, however, that these two last are black vultures, though they suggest the species. The two birds shown in Pl. 19, figs. 5, 6, are almost surely black vultures, and, as represented in the ma.n.u.script, are descending upon a man.