Mr.M.H.Saville is probably right in considering them as quetzals, though the habitat of this famous trogon is Central America and the southernmost part of Mexico.

The bird and the serpent form the decoration of other jars of this collection and would indicate that the makers of this pottery were affiliated with the Aztecs in their adoration of the great deity Quetzalcoatl.
PLATE III Heights: _a_, 18.5 cm; _b_, 18 cm; _c_, 17 cm; _d_, 11 cm; _e_, 14.5 cm; _f_ 15.3 cm; _g_, 24.2 cm.
_c_, a jar in the shape of a conventionalised owl.
_d_, a jar in the shape of a fish.
_f_ is a much conventionalised representation of four horned toads.

Around its upper part it has two serpents, apparently coral snakes, attached in high relief.
PLATE IV Heights: _a_, 14 cm; _b_, 16.8 cm; _c_, 18.6 cm; _d_, 12.2 cm; _e_, 22 cm; _f_, 18.5 cm.
_a_, a very realistic representation of the rain-grub.
_c_ has a black slip.
_d_ is very strong and highly polished, and differs also in colouring from the rest.
PLATE V Heights: _a_, 3.7 cm; _b_, 9.8 cm; _c_, 25.6 cm; _d_, 17 cm; _e_, 20.7 cm; _f_, 19.3 cm; _g_, 19.3 cm.
This brown ware is very handsome, and its ornamentation is strikingly artistic in its simplicity.

See, for instance, Plate V., _e.

D, f_, and _g_ represent pottery from Casas Grandes, distinguished by a certain solidity and a higher polish..