The six feathers shown in _h_ resemble the last, but the terminal
portions of three are spotted instead of solid black. Like some of the
others described, this form tapers slightly from its distal end to its
base.
In _i_ the feathers are likewise pointed at their tips, but are of
almost uniform breadth. Each is intersected by a series of triangles and
parallel lines, and suspended from the latter, one in each feather, are
several vertical lines, each with terminal dots.
The symbol shown in _j_ is not unlike that already illustrated, but it
has in addition to the structure enumerated a lateral hornlike appendage
common in the tails of birds (see pl. 90, _i_, _tf_).
The form of feather design shown in _k_ is somewhat different from those
already considered. The distal end is broad and pointed; the proximal
narrows almost to a point. The left half of the body of the feather is
black; the remainder, including the point, is plain. The design _l_ has
the same general form as _k_, but its tip is marked in a different manner.
The double-pointed symbol represented in _m_ was evidently designed as
a feather (possibly two feathers), with parallel sides, and pointed
tips painted black. The symbol _n_ is similar to _d_ in outline, but it
lacks the terminal slit and black bands. There project, however, from
the angles formed by the tips of the feathers three vertical lines, each
with an arrow point at the extremity and two short crosslines, as in one
of the bird designs previously described (fig. 35). The present design
represents wing feathers; the complete bird figure (fig. 35), where they
also occur, represents a thunderbird.
The three tail feathers shown in _o_ are in no respect peculiar. The
two-pointed appendages seen above are an almost constant feature of the
drawings of birds as seen from the back. The feathers represented in _p_
are unlike others in their mode of attachment and in the ornamentation at
the base.
Thus far we have considered a type of feathers with pointed tips (pl. 76,
_a-p_) imparting to the whole tail a serrate appearance. While in the
next figure, _q_, the tail feathers still terminate in points, a black
band connecting their extremities is prolonged at each side, recalling
the tail of certain swallows.
Feathers are often represented on Sikyatki pottery as elsewhere in the
Southwest by parallel straight lines. The feathers represented in _r_ are
exceptional in that their length varies considerably, the median feather
here being the longest.
While undoubtedly the series of designs shown in _s_ to _bb_, inclusive,
in each instance representing the feathers in the tail of a bird, are
all highly conventionalized, in one or two instances, as _u_ and _bb_,
the relation to feathers can be recognized only by comparative studies.
The design illustrated in _cc_, taken from the neck of a vase, represents
several peculiar feathers of a type not yet described but highly
characteristic. Comparison of this with that of _dd_ shows the similarity
of the two and suggests that they pertain to the same kind of bird. The
tails represented in _v_, _aa_, and _bb_ are characteristic; the last
represents tail feathers hanging from the band later described.
The series of feathers (possibly tail feathers) shown in several figures
have rounded tips, and as a rule are of uniform size and without
ornamentation. In plate 77, _a_, the three feathers composing the tail
are painted black and are slightly separated, while those of _b_ are half
black and half plain, the solid area being separated from the plain by a
diagonal line extending from the proximal to the distal extremity.
The four feathers in _c_ are separated by slight intervals and lightly
shaded; otherwise they are similar to those in _a_. The two outside
feathers of _d_ are much broader than the middle feather, which is
reduced to a narrow line. In _e_ the three feathers are broader at the
tips, in which respect they differ from _c_.
In the tail shown in _f_, the feathers are indicated by shallow notches
from which short parallel lines extend inward. They are without
superficial markings. Figure _g_ belongs to the notched type represented
above.
The four feather symbols shown in the drawing of the bird’s tail
illustrated in _h_ differ from all others in the shape of their distal
ends, which are alternately black and plain, and are without superficial
ornamentation. Evidently this feather design, which is represented on a
single vessel from Sikyatki, is of a distinct type.
There is some doubt whether _i_ represents a bird’s tail, the head and
body from which the design was taken being more like those of a moth or a
butterfly. The meaning of the design in _j_ is also doubtful. Figure _k_
represents a single “breath” feather like that shown in figure 57.
There is a general resemblance between the tail feathers of the bird
designed in _e_ and _l_; the latter represents the tail of a bird,
hanging between two triangles under a star design.
Figure _m_ represents a bird’s tail with three tail feathers and lateral
extensions, while in _n_, where we also have a figure of the tail of a
bird, each feather is marked by a rectangular pattern. The four pairs of
parallel lines extending from these feathers may be regarded as parts of
these structures.
[Illustration: