[Illustration: Fig. 250. Alligator shaped whistle, alligator ware--½.]
Mammals are very often reproduced in these instruments. What appears to be the ocelot or jaguar is the favorite subject. A representative specimen is shown in Fig. 251. The mouthpiece is in the tail and one of the sound holes is in the left shoulder and the other beneath the body. The head is turned to one side and the face is decidedly cat-like in expression. The decoration is in black and red and may be taken as a typical example of the conventional treatment of the markings of the bodies of such animals. The tips of the ears, feet, and tail are red. Rows of red strokes, alternating with black, extend in a broad stripe from the point of the nose to the base of the neck. Red panels, inclosing rows of red dots and enframed by black lines, cross the back. On the sides we have oblong spaces filled in with the conventional devices so common in other animal representations. The legs are striped and dotted after the usual manner.
[Illustration: Fig. 251. Cat shaped whistle, alligator ware--1/1.]
A unique form, and one that will be looked at with interest by comparative ethnologists on account of the treatment of the tongues, is given in Fig. 252. The instrument consists of an oblong body to which four ocelot heads are fixed, one at each end and the others at the sides. It rests upon four feet, in one of which the mouthpiece is placed. The finger holes are in the side of the body near the legs, as seen in the cut. The decoration, which consists of more or less conventional representations of the skin markings of the animal, is in black and red. Its notes are three, as follows:
[Illustration: Fig. 252. Whistle with four ocelot-like heads, alligator ware--1/1.]
The prevalence of bird forms is due no doubt to the resemblance of the notes of primitive whistles to the notes of birds. The shape of the bird is also exceptionally convenient, as the body accommodates the air chamber, the tail serves as a mouthpiece, and the head is convenient for the attachment of a cord of suspension. A great variety of forms were modeled and range from the minute proportions of the smallest humming bird to those of a robin. The larger pieces represent birds of prey, such as hawks, eagles, and vultures, and the smaller are intended for parrots and song birds. The treatment is always highly conventional, yet in many cases the characteristic features of the species are forcibly presented. The painted devices have reference in most cases to the markings of the plumage, yet they partake of the geometric character of the designs used in ordinary vase painting. The ground is the usual yellowish gray of the slip, and nearly all the pieces belong to the lost color and alligator groups.