330 ANIMAL FIGURES IN THE MAYA CODICES 



very simple form was found in the carving shown in PI. 17, 

 fig. 13, where a long projecting knob is seen at the base of 

 the culmen. 



The king vulture seems to have a part to play as a mytho- 

 logical being, as it is pictured as a god with human body 

 and bird head in the act of cohabiting with a woman in Dres- 

 den 19a, and with a dog in Dresden 13c (PL 17, fig. 3). More- 

 over, the same vulture god 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) 

 fihows 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 god is represented. In Tro-Cortesianus 22c (PI. 17, 

 fig. 2) and 10a,* 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 connec- 

 tion with the vulture god in Dresden 38b, and the black 

 vulture in Tro-Cortesianus 18b (PL 19, fig. 13). 



The king vulture is found employed as a head-dress 

 tw^ice out of the three times it appears in any connection 

 with female figures, Tro-Cortesianus 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 through- 

 out 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 god directly 

 below it. In Dresden lib (PL 18, fig. 1), it occurs alone and 



♦Forstemann identifies this bird as a black eagle. 



