258 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



means a shy bird. These birds feed on beech nuts, 

 acorns (especially those of the white and chinquapin 

 oaks), chestnuts, pecan nuts, black persimmons, 

 tunas (the fruit of the prickly pear), leguminous 

 seeds of various kinds, all the cultivated grains, 

 different wild berries and grapes, and the tender 

 tops of plants ; also grasshoppers, crickets, and 

 other insects. The actions of the gobbler during 

 the mating season, while paying court to the 

 female, are similar to those of the Domestic Turkey, 

 and well enough known to need no description. 

 The call-notes of the Wild Turkey resemble those 

 of the domesticated bird very much; still, they 

 differ somewhat. In feeding, the usual note is 

 quitt, quitt, or pit, pit. When calling each other, 

 it is keow, keow, kee, kee, keow, keow, and a note 

 uttered when alarmed suddenly sounds somewhat 

 like cut-cut." 



Of the form found in Florida, Dr. Ralph writes : 

 " Fifteen years ago I found the Wild Turkey 

 abundant in most parts of Florida north of Lake 

 Okeechobee, with perhaps the exception of the 

 Indian River region ; but they have gradually 

 decreased in numbers since then, and though still 

 common in places where the country is wild and 

 unsettled, they are rapidly disappearing from those 



