8EPTEMBEK 25, 1885.] 



SCIENCE 



267 



Mj drawing (fig. 1) represents a side view 

 of an adult specimen of the owl in question, 

 with its raandibles intentionall}^ opened, in 

 order to be as much like the Zuni model (fig. 

 2) as possible. 



This cla}' cop}^ is the most faithful one I 

 could obtain from a large 

 stock of such material, and 

 one of the best of their at- 

 tempts in this direction that 

 I have ever met with, or 

 seen figured. 



It will be seen that the 

 modeller has represented 

 the tufts upon the head of 

 Ms subject b}' a pair of coni- 

 cal elevations. The clay 

 used to make this figure 

 is susceptible of being 

 formed into much more 

 natural-looking tufts than 

 these, yet we never find 

 them. In common with the 

 beak, the}' are painted a 

 brownish red, in sharp con- 

 trast with the white bod}' 

 of the rest of the model. 

 An attempt is alwaj's made 

 to represent the feather disk 

 about the eye. Sometimes 

 this is done b}^ two plane 

 concentric circles ; other artists make it as 

 shown in fig. 2 ; and still others have the radi- 

 ating lines without the limiting-circle. The 

 beak in my specimen is one of the best efforts 

 of the kind that has come under my observa- 

 tion, an attempt evidentl}' having been made 

 to represent its raptorial type. This is not 

 always the case, as may be seen from examin- 

 ing the admirable figures of these models, pre- 

 sented us in Powell's ' Second annual report,' 

 and illustrating Mr. Stevenson's unrivalled 

 collections of 1879. 



The body and wings of one of these effigies 

 of the owl come much nearer in form to the 

 body and wings of a young specimen of Bubo, 

 sa}' two or three weeks old, than they resemble 

 these parts in the adult owl ; the former being 

 short and rounded, and sometimes represented 

 with a tail, and sometimes without. This ma}- 

 have been influenced, originally, from the fact 

 that these 3'oung owls are often taken ; but 

 they do not acquire the feather-horns until 

 later in life. 



We find the talons represented by five char- 

 acterless points, sometimes radiating as a star, 

 and sometimes arranged with three in front, 

 and one behind, which is better ; thouerh these 



parts never suggest to us the raptorial foot of 

 the owl. 



In criticising one of these Zuni effigies, we 

 must bear in mind the fact of the great ten- 

 denc}', as in man}^ of the Spanish-American 

 folk, to imitate the work of their ancestors ; 



Fig. 1. — Right lateral view of head of adult 

 specimen of Bubo virginianus; reduced 

 about i. 



Fig. 2.— Three-quartering view from the right 

 of a Zuni model of the head of an owl; 

 reduced about h. 



and it would be hard to say 

 for how many generations this 

 clay model of the Zunian owl 

 has passed down without the 

 slightest attempt at improve- 

 ment in the direction of a more 

 faithful portraiture of nature. Occasionally, how- 

 ever, an artist will make a luck}^ hit ; and I have 

 two ducks in my possession that illustrate this. 

 The larger and adult one evidently intended to 

 represent a widgeon (Mareca Americana) ; and 

 its likeness, both in coloration and form, is at 

 once quite striking. The other specimen is a 

 young duck of some nondescript variety, the 

 merit of which lies in the rather faithful imita- 

 tion of the duckling as distinguished from an 

 old bird. This is independent of its size, and, 

 I expect, a difficult effect to successfully pro- 

 duce with the materials at their command, and 

 rarely accomplished. 



Their pottery illuminations of birds, as 

 works of art, are no better than could be done 

 b}' any of our children at eight or nine years 

 of age. Occasionally we find one where the 

 famil}^ can be guessed at, but more often the 

 very order is obscure. 



Mr. Gushing tells us, in one of his classi- 

 cal contributions to Century magazine (May, 

 1883), about Zuni, the veneration these people 

 have for the turtle, and how the}' seem to be- 

 lieve it harbors the soul of some one of their 

 dead, or, as he expresses it, ' our lost others.' 

 We would naturally expect, therefore, to find 



