The most general form of sculpture was that of birds, and we find specimens of almost all the common varieties. In this group we recognize the tufted heron striking a fish; the eagle, or hawk, tearing a smaller bird; the swallow, apparently just ready to fly; and in the last figure, one that has given rise to a good deal of discussion. Some think from the circumstance of its having a very large bill, toes pointing behind as well as before, that it represents a toucan, which, if true, would make it a most interesting specimen. But cautious scholars conclude that the “figure is not of sufficient distinctness to identify the original that was before the artist’s mind.” And therefore it is not wise to make this specimen the subject of a far-reaching speculation.93 It may be of interest to inquire whether the Indians made pipes as tastefully ornamented as those we have described. We should notice that all the pipes here described are from one very limited locality in Ohio, and that is the valley of the Scioto, the same section of country where were found the great inclosures of a mathematical shape. We have no reason for supposing that the Mound Builders generally throughout the Mississippi Valley had this artistic skill. We have seen nowhere any thing to show a superiority for them in this respect. Whatever conclusion can be drawn from those pipes, applies only to the tribe in the Scioto Valley. It is believed they do constitute a peculiar class by themselves. As works of art, there are but few aboriginal relics of North American origin their equal.94 We would also refer to the fact that most of these specimens were obtained from one altar-mound.95 We do not know what ceremonies were performed around this altar, but if it were a place of burial or cremation, they might have been the obsequies of some distinguished maker of pipes. That such a person would be the recipient of honor, is not singular, for “the manufacture of stone pipes, necessarily a painful and tedious labor, may have formed a branch of aboriginal industry, and the skillful pipe carver probably occupied among the former Indians a rank equal to that of the experienced sculptor in our times.” Among the Ojibway Indians, we are told, are persons who possess peculiar skill in the carving of pipes, and make it their profession, or at least the means of gaining, in part, their livelihood. One “inlaid his pipes very tastefully with figures of stars, and flowers of black and white stones. But his work proceeded very slowly, and he sold his pipes at high prices.”96 So we see how cautious we must be about drawing inferences from this peculiar class of pipes found in one limited locality.