It is natural that this bird should find an important place in the Maya writing, as it is an abundant species in the region considered, and of great importance as a scavenger. The black vulture seems to lack the mythological character associated with the king vulture. It appears usually in connection with death and in the role of a bird of prey. This is especially true in the Tro-Cortesianus where in 24d, 26d (Pl. 19, figs. 5, 6) and 28c, it is attacking a human being, in the first and last cases represented as dead. In 86a and 87a, the bird is shown plucking out the eye of a man. In Dresden 3a (Pl. 19, fig. 7), it appears at the top of the tree above the human sacrifice and seems to be in the act of consuming the victim. In Tro-Cortesianus 91c, it also appears in a tree. In Tro-Cortesianus 40a (Pl. 17, fig. 9), and 42a (Pl. 19, fig. 1), it is shown as eating the entrails of a deer. In the first case, the bird looks like a king vulture, although this is the only instance where this species is shown as a bird of prey. In Tro-Cortesianus 28b and 36b (Pl. 18, fig. 17), the black vulture appears eating the Kan sign. In the first example, the _Kan_ represents the newly sowed corn, in the second, the _Kan_ is held by god F. Landa (1864, p. 230)[333-*] records that in the _Cauac_ year there was a ceremony to prevent the ants and the birds devouring the corn. In Dresden 34b and 35b, the vulture is shown on top of the head-dress of god F, evidently the enemy of the harvest and, again, on 35b (Pl. 19, fig. 4) on top of the _Cauac_ sign. Its role as a bird of prey is further shown in Dresden 36b (Pl. 19, fig. 11), where it is shown attacking a serpent. This vulture is associated with god B in Dresden 69b, with god M in Tro-Cortesianus 70a (Pl. 18, fig. 12), and with god D in Tro-Cortesianus 67a (Pl. 17, fig. 1). The last may be the king rather than the black vulture, as suggested above. The black vulture occurs only once as the usual head-dress, in Dresden 17b (Pl. 18, fig. 13), and here in connection with a female figure and the idea of birth. Two birds, probably vultures, appear over the enclosure around the head of god C in Tro-Cortesianus 100b (Pl. 19, fig. 12). In the Lower Chamber of the Temple of the Tigers occurs a black vulture in bas-relief with a necklace represented (Pl. 19, fig. 14).