350 BULLETIN OF THE 



color of the flesh of the wild and tame birds when cooked. There prob- 

 ably is some difference in color, but so little that one must have very acute 

 powers of observation to tell the difference when brought to the table 

 roasted. There 'is a difference in the color of the head, caruncles, and 

 dewlaps, as stated by Professor Baird, but with my present means of 

 knowledge, having no fresh specimens before me, I will not undertake to 

 describe the differences. One thing, however, should not be forgotten ; 

 that we see the tame bird under all circumstances of passion, — in fear 

 and when proudly strutting ; in short, under all the different emotions 

 that turkeys are heirs to, while we rarely or never see the wild turkey 

 under such varied circumstances, but only when they are terror-stricken 

 or dead. The head and neck in the tame bird makes rapid and surprising 

 changes in sympathy with its emotions, and it may be so, and probably is, 

 with the wild." 



From the evidence that has now been given, it is sufficiently apparent 

 that Major LeConte's two fundamental assumptions, — first, that the wild 

 bird will not mix or breed with the domesticated ; and, second, that the wild 

 bird never has been and cannot be domesticated, — upon which was 

 erected an hypothesis to explain the origin of the domesticated bird by 

 referring it to an extinct ancestor that probably inhabited some of the 

 "West Indian Islands, are entirely groundless, and never had for their sup- 

 port only the negative evidence afforded by the limited experience of 

 Major LeConte and a few of his friends. 



Inasmuch as the domestic turkey was first introduced into Europe from 

 Mexico, it may be well in this connection to inquire further into the rela- 

 tionship of the so-called M. mexicana, or Mexican turkey, to the wild 

 turkey of the eastern part of the United States. As already stated, the 

 M. mexicana was originally described by Mr. Gould from a single specimen 

 from Mexico. This specimen differs but slightly from the common wild 

 turkey of the eastern part of the continent. But like many other merely 

 nominal species, this " Mexican turkey" has been since generally recognized 

 by writers on American ornithology, doubtless mainly because its describer 

 was deemed too eminent a naturalist to be mistaken on such a point. Its 

 habitat has been since extended to embrace half of that portion of the 

 continent over which the wild turkey ranges, — the entire western half of 

 the United States: yet the point at which the habitat of the eastern 

 species ceases and that of the western begins, no one has yet ventured to 

 attempt to definitely indicate. It is universally conceded to be exceed- 

 ingly closely allied to the .1/. gallopavo, as the latter is now defined. 

 Though admitted provisionally as a valid species by Professor Baird in 

 his work already cited, he says that " whether these differences can be 

 considered as establishing a second species for the United States is a 



