LAUFER, THE DECORATIVE ART OF THE AMUR TRIBES. 25 



Fig. 5 is allied to the preceding. In the centre are two birds perching to the 

 right and left of a tree. Very likely a cock is intended in this case, the crest on 

 the head being visible, the wattle under the throat, the feet, the outspread wings, 

 and the tail-feathers. Above the tree and the two large birds we observe three 

 small birds, one of which seems to be perched on the top of the tree, which recalls 

 perfectly the perching cocks on Siberian fish-skin garments (see Plates xxix 

 and xxx). The form of the tail, and, still more, the object held in the beak, 

 admit no doubt as to its significance. Also the various patterns employed on either 

 side of this picture remind one, in their exterior form, of some compositions oc 

 curring on the fish-skin garments, although an exact identification is impossible. 

 The parts projecting from the hatched portions, and particularly those branching 

 off from the vertical line below, appear to represent bird-heads. Still more diffi 

 cult to explain is the row of six figures across the bottom. In the upper part of 

 these may be recognized cocks, which in the three figures on the right-hand side 

 hold their heads bent to the right, and on the other side to the left. In the 

 rooster on the left the eye is missing, which is not the case in the birds on the 

 right side. Slight deviations from symmetry may also be noticed in the figures 

 above. It is possible, and very probable too, that other pictures of cocks or other 

 birds may be contained in this composition. 



Combined Cocks, Type B. There are also combinations of two cocks, their 

 backs contiguous, and necks bent in opposite directions, which for convenience 

 we shall call &quot;Type B.&quot; This occurs on Fig. i, Plate ix, a pattern cut out of 

 birch-bark, that serves as a foundation for an embroidered pocket. The bodies 

 of the birds consist here of mere compound spirals. The heads are not repre 

 sented, from lack of space, but the oval objects belonging to them are visible. 

 The curved offshoots at the bottom of the spirals seem to indicate feet. 



The ornaments represented in Fig. 2, Plate ix, are cut out of birch-bark and 

 sewed to a birch-bark hat. They are put on in three rows around the hat, each 

 row containing four double cocks executed in an ornamental style. In the outer 

 most row on the border the tail-feathers are easily discerned. The body is indi 

 cated by a spiral, to which a circle is joined. The two heads are placed together 

 so as to form a rhomboidal figure. These eight cocks are dyed blue. On the 

 edge between the tail-feathers are four single pieces dyed black. These are 

 ornamental survivals of the cock s spurs. The cocks in the middle row have their 

 heads distinctly marked, and two circles on each side of the neck. Their bodies 

 have nearly the shape of the triskeles. These are colored red, but the heads are 

 not dyed at all. The circles are blackened. The cocks of this row are ornamen 

 tally connected with those in the outer circle at their heads, and with those of the 

 inner row at their tails. This central row shows the most conventionalized forms 

 of the cock. If we imagine a line drawn through the two points where the tail- 

 feathers of the outer row come in contact and where those of the middle row 

 meet, we shall be able to distinguish the two united cocks of the third row. 

 Here the two heads have coalesced into an ellipsoid which has a circle on either 



