ced them as
sentinels to guard the approaches to their homes, to give warning of
the arrival of hostile bands. This is further borne out by finding that
mounds placed in such positions frequently show evidence of the action
of intense fire, and so we conclude they were used as signal stations
also. So we need not doubt but that the region thus watched over by
these effigy-mounds, group answering to group along the river banks, or
in the valleys below, was at times lit up by the signal fires at
night; or the warning column of smoke by day betokening the presence of
dancer.<52>

Illustration of Bird Mound, surrounded by a Stone Circle.---

Before leaving the subject of effigy-mounds, we must refer to some
instances of their presence in other localities. This cut is an eagle
effigy discovered in Georgia. Only one other instance, also occurring
in Georgia, is known of effigy-mounds in the South. Measured from tip to
tip of the wings, the bird, in this case, is one hundred and thirty-two
feet. This structure is composed of stones, and a singular feature is
the surrounding circle of stone.<53>

Illustration of Big Serpent Mound.-------------------

Several examples of effigy-mounds are found in Ohio. The most notable
one is that known as the Great Serpent Mound, in Adanis County. We give
an illustration of it. The entire surrounding country is hilly. The
effigy itself is situated on a tongue of land formed by the junction of
a ravine with the main branch of Brush Creek, and rising to a height
of about one hundred feet above the creek. Its form is irregular on
its surface, being crescent-shaped, with the point resting to the
north-west. We give in a note some of the dimensions. The figure we give
of this important effigy is different from any heretofore presented. We
are indebted for the plan from which the drawing was made to Rev. J. P.
MacLean, of Hamilton, Ohio. Mr. MacLean is a well-known writer on these
topics. During the Summer of 1884, while in the employ of the Bureau of
Ethnology, he visited the place, taking with him a thoroughly competent
surveyor, and made a very careful plan of the work for the Bureau. All
the other figures published represent the oval as the end of the works.
Prof. Putnam, who visited the locality in 1883, noticed, between the
oval figure and the edge of the ledge, a slightly raised, circular ridge
of earth, from either side of which a curved ridge extended towards the
sides of the ov