The glyph of the king vulture has already been discussed. There are other glyphs which seem to show the black vulture, although it is quite possible that no sharp distinction was made between the two in regard to the glyphs at least. In one case (Pl. 18, fig. 18), the wrinkled skin of the head and neck is indicated much as in the case of the king vulture. A few other glyphs are shown (Pl. 18, figs. 16, 19, 22, 27), as well as a variety from the Nuttall Codex in which the minute hair-like feathers of the head are variously represented, usually much exaggerated as a sort of crest or comb. Pl. 18, fig. 22, is interesting as being the only case in the Maya codices where the whole figure is shown in the glyph. As noted in the case of the glyphs of the king vulture, the greater number of these occur quite alone. They seem to indicate that a full drawing of the bird is meant to be understood as occurring below.
Several of the carved glyphs (Pl. 19, figs. 8-10) show the black vulture heads in some detail with the conspicuously open nostril and hooked beak. A carving of the entire bird may be shown on Stela D from Copan (Pl. 28, fig. 5), where the naked head and neck are marked off by lines indicating wrinkled skin. The same lines on the neck of the bird depicted on Pl. 28, fig. 2, will probably identify it as a vulture, and, if the square ornament above the beak certainly is part of the figure, it is unquestionably the king vulture. The knob is not, however, clearly on the bird's beak. There are two interesting glyphs which occur on the eastern façade of the Monjas at Chichen Itza. The glyphs in this inscription are unlike the usual Maya hieroglyphs, although several of the so-called constellation signs can be made out. The two glyphs in question represent the entire body possibly of a vulture, that on Pl. 17, fig. 13, probably the king vulture, and that on Pl. 18, fig. 14, the black vulture.
HARPY EAGLE (_Thrasaetos harpyia_). In the Nuttall Codex, what is undoubtedly the harpy eagle is of frequent occurrence. This great bird is not uncommon in the forests of southern Mexico and Central America, and must have attracted the notice of the people from its size. The elongated feathers at the back of the head form a conspicuous crest, a feature that characterizes this species in most of the representations. A stone carving from Chichen Itza (Pl. 20, fig. 10) pictures a harpy eagle eating an egg-shaped object, and another similarly engaged is copied from the Codex Vaticanus 3773 (Pl. 20, fig. 14). The former is considered to be a vulture by Maudslay, but the presence of feathers covering the head excludes this interpretation. In two stone glyphs (Pl. 20, fig. 1, 3), occurs a large bird apparently devouring something held in its talons, as in Pl. 20, fig. 10. From this general resemblance, it seems probable that both represent the harpy, although no crests are shown on the glyphs. In the Dresden and the Tro-Cortesianus occur a few figures of crested birds that probably are the same species. The crest feathers are reduced to two, however, or, in some cases, what may be a third projecting forward from the base of the bill (Pl. 20, figs. 5, 7, 12, 13). The last two figures are not certainly identifiable, though it is probable that they represent the harpy.