Cuauhtecolotl (MH525v)

The squared-off shape of the ears may represent an effort by the artist to draw the devil as was becoming familiar through Christian teachings. The tlacatecolotl was often equated with a devil. The lines around the eyes could be a part of this, too, imbuing the creature with sacred powers. Note, below, how the phonetic syllable nen-, which is meant to be an "idol" (again, from Christian influence), has similar squared-off protrusions at the top of the heads.

Cuauhtecolotl, which combines two bird names, "Eagle-Owl," was a name used by some prominent men. There was, for example, a ruler in Quiahuiztlan, Tlaxcala, with the name don Baltazar Cuauhtecolotl. He is mentioned by Diego Muñoz Camargo (see the edition by Germán Vázquez, 1986, 130). A person named Cuauhtecolotl also appears in a poem from Chalco (see Miguel León Portilla, Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World, 1992, 253). Another person named Cuauhtecolotl was a steward of Ahuatepec (Tetzcoco region) (Pedro Carrasco, The Tenochca Empire of Ancient Mexico, 2012, 147). John Bierhorst wondered whether a cuauhtecolotl was a fallen warrior (see his A Nahuatl-English Dictionary and Concordance to the Cantares Mexicanos, 1985, 295).