TURKEYS AND PARROTS 
159 
of birds in northern habitats occur to me. Strictly speaking, 
they should not be quoted, because they are now extinct in 
their northern habitats. But as their extermination happened 
within historic times, and has been caused by human interfer¬ 
ence, I may venture to include them in this group of southern 
invaders. They are the turkey and the Florida parrot. 
The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) belongs to a dis¬ 
tinctly southern group of birds. In the time of the early 
settlers it was common as far north as Massachusetts, and 
extended westward to Colorado and southward to Mexico and 
Florida. Being a much-prized luxury of the pioneer hunter, 
it was soon exterminated in the more populous districts. It 
still occurs in some of the southern States, while an allied 
species is known from Central America. The genus Meleagris 
was already an inhabitant of North America in Oligocene 
times, for Professor Marsh described a species from the White 
River deposits in Colorado. No doubt it has lived in North 
America ever since those early Tertiary times. All we know 
from fossil evidence is that the remains of two other species 
were identified from Pleistocene deposits in New Jersey, while 
the bones of the wild turkey itself have been noticed in a cave 
in Pennsylvania. Like the edentates and peccaries this 
southern genus of birds flourished in the northern States 
throughout the Glacial Epoch and survived there until his¬ 
toric times. 
The Florida parrot (Conuropsis carolinensis) is the only 
example of the large parrot tribe indigenous to the United 
States. It is now restricted to the comparatively small area 
of the Gulf States and the lower Mississippi Valley. Yet the 
early settlers noticed this bird even near the shores of the 
Great Lakes, and occasionally it was observed near the cities 
that were springing up in the eastern States. No doubt it 
survived in these northern districts from demote times, al¬ 
though we possess no fossil evidence of this fact. It cannot 
be contended that the parrot left its former habitat through 
persecution; nevertheless, man in his agricultural pursuits, 
must have interfered with it, possibly by reducing the birds’ 
food supply. 
I wish now to make a few remarks on the inhabitants of 
the mighty river and its tributaries flowing through the 
