[Aztlan] water birds

[Wendy Bacon]

At some point, I read somewhere that, for the ancient Maya, the water 
bird motif symbolizes the connection between the present reality, the 
"other," and the Underworld, because it can fly in the sky and roost in 
trees, can walk around on this terrestrial plane, and can dive below 
the dark, foreboding water (and even come up with a fish).  I would 
like to cite the source of this notion, but can't remember where I read 
it.  Can anybody help me track down the source?  I have a vague idea it 
was somewhere in the many works of Linda Schele, but I can't find it.  
Contest winners get thanked in my dissertation ...

Gratefully,

Wendy J. Bacon
Department of Anthropology
University of Pennsylvania