The figure of a bird shown in plate CXXXVIII, _c_, is similar in many
respects to that last described. The semicircular markings on the head
of the former are here replaced by triangles, but both are symbolic of
rain-clouds. The wings are curved projections, without any suggestion
of feathers or basal spurs and knobs. The tail-feathers show nothing
exceptional, and the body is bounded posteriorly by triangular
extensions, as in figures of birds already described.
The representation of the bird in plate CXXXVIII, _e_, has a
triangular body continued into two points on the posterior end,
between which the tail-feathers are situated. The body is covered with
terraced and triangular designs, and the head is rectangular in form.
On each side of the bird figure there is a symbol of a flower,
possibly the sunflower or an aster.
In the figures of birds already considered the relative sizes of the
heads and bodies are not overdrawn, but in the picture of a bird on
the food bowl shown in plate CXXXVIII, _f_, the head is very much
enlarged. It bears a well-marked terraced rain-cloud symbol above
triangles of the same meaning. The wings are represented as diminutive
appendages, each consisting of two feathers. The body has a triangular
extension on each side, and the tail is composed of two comparatively
short rectangular feathers. The figure itself could hardly be
identified as a representation of a bird were it not for the
correspondence, part for part, with figures which are undoubtedly
those of birds or flying animals.
A more highly conventionalized figure of a bird than any thus far
described is painted on the food bowl reproduced in plate CXL, _b_.
The head is represented by a terraced figure similar to those which
appear as decorations on some of the other vessels; the wings are
simply extended crescents, the tips of which are connected by a band
which encircles the body and tail; the body is continued at the
posterior end into two triangular appendages, between which is a tail,
the feathers of which are not differentiated. On each side of the
body, in the space inclosed by the band connecting the tips of the
wings, a figure of a dragon-fly appears.
The figure on the food bowl illustrated in plate CXXXIX, _c_, may also
be reduced to a conventionalized bird symbol. The two pointed objects
on the lower rim represent tail-feathers, and the triangular
appendages, one on each side above them, the body, as in the designs
which have already been described. Above the triangles is a
rectangular figure with terraced rain-cloud emblems, a constant
feature on the body and head of the bird, and on each side, near the
rim of the bowl, occur the primary feathers of the wings. The cross,
so frequently associated with designs representing birds, is replaced
by the triple intersecting lines in the remaining area. The
resemblance of this figure to those already considered is clearly
evident after a little study.
The decoration on the food basin presented in plate CXXXIX, _a_, is
interesting in the study of the evolution of bird designs into
conventional forms. In this figure those parts which are identified as
homologues of the wings extend wholly across the interior of the food
bowl, and have the forms of triangles with smaller triangular spurs at
their bases. The wings are extended at right angles to the axis of the
body, and taper uniformly to the rim of the bowl. The smaller spurs
near the union of the wings and body represent the posterior part of
the latter, and between them are the tail-feathers, their number being
indicated by three triangles.
There is no representation of a head, although the terraced rain-cloud
figure is drawn on the anterior of the body between the wings.
The reduction of the triangular wings of the last figure to a simple
band drawn diametrically across the inner surface of the bowl is
accomplished in the design shown in plate CXXXIX, _b_. At intervals
along this line there are arranged groups of blocks, three in each
group, representing stars, as will later be shown. The semicircular
head has lost all appendages and is reduced to a rain-cloud symbol.
The posterior angles of the body are much prolonged, and the tail
still bears the markings representing three tail-feathers.
The association of a cross with the bird figure is both appropriate
and common; its modified form in this decoration is not exceptional,
but why it is appended to the wings is not wholly clear. We shall see
its reappearance on other bowls decorated with more highly
conventionalized bird figures.
In the peculiar decoration used in the treatment of the food bowl
shown in plate CXXXIX, _c_, we have almost a return to geometric
figures in a conventional representation of a bird. In this case the
semblance to wings is wholly lost in the line drawn diametrically
across the interior of the bowl. On one side of it there are many
crosses representing stars, and on the other the body and tail of a
bird. The posterior triangular extensions of the former are continued
to a bounding line of the bowl, and no attempt is made to represent
feathers in the tail. The rectangular figure, with serrated lower edge
and inclosed terraced figures, finds, however, a homologue in the
heads and bodies of most of the representations of birds which have
been described.
This gradual reduction in semblance to a bird has gone still further
in the figure represented in plate CXXXIX, _d_, where the posterior
end of the body is represented by two spurs, and the tail by three
feathers, the triangular rain-clouds still persisting in the
rectangular body. In fact, it can hardly be seen how a more
conventionalized figure of a bird were possible did we not find in _e_
of the same plate this reduction still greater. Here the tail is
represented by three parallel lines, the posterior of the body by two
dentate appendages, and the body itself by a square.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY