638 



GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



young run about and feed as soon as hatched, under the 

 direction and at the call of the parent, who retains 

 them under her charge until autumn. They run swift- 

 ly, take to wing with difficulty, the flight being limited 

 and low, accompanied by a whirring produced by the 

 rapid vibration of the wings ; very few undertake any 

 extensive migrations. The voice unpleasant, consisting 

 usually of a crowing, or petulant cackling. The flesh is 

 greatly esteemed for food in all countries ; the domestic 

 kinds are termed poultry ; when wild, game. 



Family. — Gallinacet. (Illig.) 



The bill thick ; nostrils basal. Fore toes connected at base by a 

 membrane. With the hind toe and nail never wantinor. 



TURKEYS. (Meleagris, Lin.) 



With the BILL entire, and at base covered by a membrane which 

 is prolonged into a pendulous, fleshy, conic, erectile, hairy caruncle. 

 Nostrils oblique. The tongue fleshy and entire. Feet rather 

 long ; the tarsus naked, provided with a blunt spur in the male ; the 

 middle toe longest ; nails wide and blunt, flat beneath. IVings short, 

 the 1st primary smallest, 4th and 5th longest. Tail of 14 to 18 dilat- 

 ed feathers, and capable of a vertical expansion. 



The head small, naked, and warty, as well as half the neck ; the 

 throat provided with a longitudinal, carunculous appendage ; and a 

 pendulous bristly tuft on the lower portion of the neck, at length, 

 common to both sexes. The feathers long, and dilated at the ex- 

 tremity, the colors metallic and brilliantly iridescent, varying by re- 

 flection. The female considerably smaller, with dull and obscure 

 plumage ; the young at first similar to the female. 



The Turkey, though gregarious, is nearly sedentary in the districts 

 where it is bred. They dwell generally in forests, roosting on trees ; 

 and utter a gobbling noise at the dawn of day. They feed on grain 

 and mast, as well as other vegetable substances. They are very 

 pugnacious in the breeding-season, and address their mates in pomp- 

 ous attitudes, strutting and wheeling, &g. They are also easily do- 

 mesticated and betrayed, and are now naturalized over all the 



