The Grandest Bird of the American Continent 



The Wild Turkey and its Hunting. By A. Mcllhenny. Pp. xi-245. 

 1 914. Doubleday Page and Co., $2.50. 



The word" turkey" and the month of November have a wonder- 

 ful power to arouse many kinds of pleasant memories. Perhaps 

 most of these thoughts cluster about bountiful repasts, but there 

 are other aspects of much interest which appeal to the student of 

 natural history. The extermination of the wild turkey from vast 

 areas teaches a lesson of warning, and the present volume gives 

 valuable information as to how this condition may to some degree 

 be remedied. This very interestingly written volimie is the only 

 book devoted solely to this bird, and has all the internal evidence 

 of having been written by one who knows. A book of this charac- 

 ter has a permanent value, and will be of much value and interest 

 to those who breed turkeys. 



This book is not, as one might hastily assume from its title, 

 merely the adventures of a hunter in quest of game, but is a care- 

 ful summary of prolonged field studies of the habits of this bird 

 by two enlightened sportsmen, Mr. C. L. Jordan and the author. 

 The superb illustrations, examples of which are here given, are also 

 the work of Mr. Jordan; Dr. R. W. Shufeldt has prepared the chap- 

 ters on the supposed fossil remains of turkeys, the structural 

 features of the various wild races, and summarizes the characteris- 

 tics of the eggs and skeleton. The large amount of valuable 

 materials on the natural history of this bird is indicated by the 

 discussion of such subjects as: the storage of fat on mature 

 gobblers, shrewdness of the bird, social relations, nesting, young 

 birds, association of the sexes, roosting, enemies, food, and methods 

 of calling turkeys. The brief chapters on hunting, camera hunting, 

 ^nd cooking the turkey indicate the comprehensive character of 

 the volume. As examples of subjects of special interest mention 

 should be made of the fact that during the gobbling season the 

 males take but little food and live largely upon the fat stored on the 

 breast, and during floods the turkeys on the bottoms live for weeks 

 in the trees feeding upon buds and fruits. The calling notes and 

 means of imitating them are discussed very fully and may be 

 looked upon as an extensive experimental field study of the voice 

 of this bird. The book contains so much interesting material that 

 it should have been made readily accessible by a good index, which 



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