owever, quite different in every
way. The owl in full face view is unquestionably the great horned owl
(Maya, _ikim_), the Yucatan form of which is recognized by the
subspecific title _mayensis_. This is the bird opposed to the
"Moan-bird" which, as will be shown later, is associated with death. In
Pl. 21 are some truly remarkable figures which seem to represent this
horned owl, the first modelled in stucco from Palenque, the second
carved in stone from Yaxchilan, and the third carved in wood from Tikal.
Figs. 1 and 3 show the bird in flight with extended wings. The two
erectile tufts of feathers or "horns" are conspicuously represented in
fig. 3, at either side of the bird's head and between them the flat top
of the crown is secondarily divided in like manner into three parts,
representing the "horns" and the top of the head. The beetling brows,
heavy hooked beak, and spread talons combine to give a fierce and
spirited mien to the great bird. Pl. 21, fig. 2, may be a greatly
conventionalized owl in which the essential characteristics of the bird
are reproduced in a rectangular design. The large bill is conspicuous in
the center, and in each upper corner terminates one of the ears. The
eyes are represented by rectangular areas at the base of the bill, each
with three vertical bars across it. Below the beak, or at either side of
the tip, are the feet, each with the claw cross-hatched. What seem to be
the reduced and highly conventionalized wings fill the lower corner of
each side of the figure.

The shield in the center of the Tablet of the Sun at Palenque (Pl. 22,
fig. 6) shows a face in which the motif seems to be the full-face view
of the horned owl. The hooked bill curves over the mouth at each side of
which is the curious scroll seen in the same connection in the figures
of Pl. 21. The ears are somewhat shorter in proportion than usual and
below each, at the sides of the face, is a large ear-plug, similar to
that elsewhere found. The eyes are still further conventionalized with a
decorative scroll surrounding each. Another example of the
conventionalized owl's head is on Stela 1 from Cankuan (Maler, 1908, Pl.
13). We are not yet ready to advance an explanation of the reason why
the owl should occupy such a prominent position in the art of the Mayas.

In only one case is the horned owl found in the Maya manuscripts. In
Tro-Cortesianus 95c (Pl. 22, fig. 2), this owl appears as the head-dress
of a woman in that portio