fig. 2) occurs again the curious symbol, a
circle surrounded by dots, previously noted under the frigate-bird and
pelican. It probably has some special significance. Other figures of
ocellated turkeys show but little in addition to the points just
discussed. One shown in Pl. 16, fig. 7, from Codex Vaticanus 3773,
however, has a circular ring about the eye and the wattles are indicated
as projections merely. In fig. 13, they are apparently shown as stalked
knobs found elsewhere in connection with serpent head ornaments. It is
only the head in this latter figure, which is considered in this
interpretation.

In the Nuttall Codex, there frequently occur representations of a bird
that was evidently used for sacrificial purposes. It is shown with
erectile head feathers and a ring of circular marks about the eye (Pl.
26, figs. 12, 14; Pl. 27, figs. 2-3) or with concentric circles (Pl. 27,
fig. 1). These figures are not surely identifiable, but probably
represent this turkey. Possibly they are the chachalaca (_Ortalis vetula
pallidiventris_), a gallinaceous bird, commonly kept in
semi-domestication in Mexico, whose bare eye ring and slightly erectile
head feathers may be represented by the drawings. It is probable that
this turkey is the bird represented frequently in the Maya codices as a
bird of sacrifice. The head alone usually appears in this connection,
among other places, in Dresden 34a (Pl. 16, fig. 10), 41c (fig. 14), 29c
(fig. 16), 28c (fig. 17), and in Tro-Cortesianus 12b (Pl. 16, fig. 11),
105b (fig. 12), 107b (fig. 15). In several of these places the head is
represented as resting on one or more _Kan_ signs, again meaning bread,
as well as on the vessel or jar. In Dresden 26c (Pl. 16, fig. 9), the
whole turkey is pictured as an offering, as in the preceding case noted
in Dresden 35a (Pl. 15, fig. 9). The whole bird as an offering may also
appear in Tro-Cortesianus 4a (Pl. 16, fig. 4) corresponding to the
offering of venison and iguana on the following pages. This
representation of the entire bird is very rare although the fish, when
used as an offering, is always represented as a whole and the iguana is
in most cases when used in the same connection. Landa (1864, p.
222)[327-*] confirms the offering of the heads of birds with bread.

It is, however, the sacrifice of a bird, probably a turkey, by
decapitating, that is especially interesting, as the operation as shown
in the Dresden Codex 25c (Pl. 26, fig. 2), 26c, 2