FEWKES] KWATAKA, THE MAN EAGLE 693 
points. In Hopi lore Kwataka wore a garment of arrowpoints, or, 
according to some legends, a flint garment, and his wings are said to 
have been composed of teathers of the same materias. 
From the pose of the figure and the various details of its symbolism 
there can be little doubt that the ancient Sikyatki artists intended to 
represent this monster. of which the modern Hopi rarely speak, and 
then only in awe. Probably several other bird figures likewise repre- 
sent Kwataka, but in none of these do the symbols conform so closely 
to legends of this monster which are still repeated in the Tusayan vil- 
lages. The home of Kwataka is reputed to be in the sky, and conse- 
quently figures of him are commonly associated with star and cloud 
emblems; he is a god of luck or chance, hence it is not exceptional to 
find figures of gaming implements! in certain elaborate figures of this 
monster. 
By far the most beautiful of the many food bowls from Sikyatki, and, 
I believe, the finest piece of prehistoric aboriginal pottery from the 
United States, is that figured in plate cxLy1, d. This remarkable 
object, found with others in the sands of the necropolis of this pueblo, 
several feet below the surface, is decorated with a highly conventional 
figure of a bird in profile, but so modified that it is difficult to deter- 
mine the different parts. The four appendages to the left represent the 
tail; the two knobs at the right the head, but the remaining parts are 
not comprehensible. The delicacy of the detailed crosshatching on 
the body is astonishing, considering that it was drawn freehand and 
without pattern. The coloring is bright and the surface glossy. 
The curved band from which this strange figure hangs is divided into 
sections by perpendicular incised lines, which are connected by zigzag 
diagonals. The signification of the figure in the upper part of the 
bowl is unknown. While this vessel is unique in the character of its 
decoration, there are others of equal fineness but less perfect in design. 
Competent students of ceramics have greatly admired this specimen, 
and so fresh are the colors that some have found it difficult to believe 
it of ancient aboriginal manufacture. The specimen itself, now on 
exhibition in the National Museum, gives a better idea of its excellence 
than any figure which could be made. This specimen, like all the 
others, is in exactly the same condition as when exhumed, save that it 
has been wiped with a moist cloth to clean the traces of food from its 
inner surface. All the pottery found in the same grave is of the finest 
character, and although no two specimens are alike in decoration, their 
general resemblances point to the same maker. This fact has been 
noticed in several instances, although there were many exceptional 
cases where the coarsest and most rudely painted vessels were associ- 
ated with the finest and most elaborately decorated ware. 
The ladle illustrated in plate CXLU, e, is one of the most beautiful in 
the collection. It is decorated with a picture of an unknown animal 
1A beautiful example of this kind was found at Homolobi in the summer of 1896, 
