328 ANIMAL FIGURES IN THE MAYA CODICES 



the Ix, and the Cauac years, the priests burnt incense to the 

 idol, decapitated a "gallina'' (undoubtedly a turkey), and 

 presented it to the god. 



The turkey is also used as a head-dress. Only in one 

 case, however, Tro-Cortesianus 95c (PL 16, fig. 5), is the whole 

 bird represented in this connection. This is clearly of to- 

 temic 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 

 god H in Dresden 7c, of god E in Dresden He, of god C in 

 Dresden 13b, of god A in Dresden 23c, and a female divinity 

 in Dresden 20a (PI. 16, fig. 13). Schellhas (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 

 manuscript the rain god, Tlaloc, often appears in the disguise 

 of the turkey-cock (uexolotl), and in the Vaticanus 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-Cortesianus 10b 

 (PL 16, fig. 2) the turkey is pictured in the rain and sur- 

 rounded on three sides by bands of constellation signs. 



Two methods of capturing the turkey are shown in the 

 Tro-Cortesianus 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 'Hwich-up" or snare, which consists of a 



ofrescian una cabe9a de un pavo, y empanados de codornices y otras coasa 

 y su bevida." 



(Cauac year) "Como solian y degollavanle la gallina . . . un hombre 

 muerto y en cima un paxaro cenicero Hamad kiich, en seiial de mortandad 

 grande, ca por muy mal afio tenian este." 



