Image: Magdalen cloister character

The beautiful cloisters of the Great Quad (1474-80), Magdalen College, Oxford. The interesting characters on the buttresses are called "hieroglyphs"; my book on Oxford architecture says their symbolism, if any, is unknown. This one is especially interesting - a lizard-like creature holding a human head and an owl.

www.sacred-destinations.com/england/oxford-magdalen.htm