644 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



tuft of hair upon the breast, and begin to strut and gob- 

 ble, and the young hens already pur and leap. 



One of the most crafty enemies which the Wild Turkey 

 has to encounter is the Lynx or Wild Cat, who frequent- 

 ly seizes his prey by advancing round, and waiting its 

 approach in ambush. Like most other Gallinaceous 

 birds they are fond of wallowing on the ground and 

 dusting themselves. 



When approached by moonlight, they are readily shot 

 from their roosting-tree, one after another, without any 

 apprehension of their danger, though they would dodge 

 or fly instantly at the sight of the Owl. The gobblers, 

 during the season of their amorous excitement, have been 

 known even to strut over their dead companions while 

 CD the ground, instead of seeking their own safety by 

 flight. 



In the spring, the male Turkeys, are called by a whistle 

 made of the second joint bone of the wing of the bird, 

 which produces a sound somewhat similar to the voice of 

 the female ; and on coming up to this call they are con- 

 sequently shot. They are likewise commonly caught in 

 quadrangular pens made of logs crossing each other, from 

 which is cut a slanting covered passage sufficient to allow 

 the entrance of the Turkey. Corn is then scattered in 

 a train to this cage for some distance, as well as within ; 

 and the neighbouring birds, in the surrounding woods, 

 having discovered the grain, call on each other by a 

 clucking, and entering one at a time, they become secured 

 in the pen, as, for the purpose of escape, they constantly 

 direct their view upwards, instead of stooping to go out 

 by the path by which they had entered. 



The male Wild Turkey weighs commonly from 15 to 

 18 pounds, is not unfrequently as much as 25, and some- 

 times, according to Audubon, even 36. The hen com- 



