■~\% 





ill? 



3 



THE Wll.n TURKEY. ^ 



Ga_v, long since, in the name of this part of the feathered race, poured fortli this piteous 

 lamentation : — 



" ^ran, cursed man, on turkcj's preys, 

 And Christmas shortens all om' days. 

 Sometimes with oysters we combine, 

 Sometimes assist the sav'ry chine, 

 From the low peasant to the lord, 

 'I'he turkey smokes on every board." 



The complaint of this bird may still be uttered ; for so far from the ravages on its race 

 being diminished, they must rather bo greatly increased since the time when the poet 

 gave it utterance. A visit to Leadenhall Market, just before Christmas, would astonish 

 any of our readers who have not yet looked on its multitude of turkeys. 



Much has been writti'U, and more thought, as to the origin of these bii'ds. " In 

 England," says AV'illughbj', " they are called turkeys, because they arc thought to 

 have been first brought to us out of Turkey." Hay, his friend and companion in 

 science, however, knew better. In a " Perfect Deserijilion of Virginia," now some two 

 hundred years old, we read lliat the colonists there liave " Wilde turkies, some weigliing 

 sixtie pound weight." And to that country wo must assuredly look as the one from 

 whence we derived the domestic bird. Wlicn, however, the couplet is cited — 



" Turkeys, taij)s, hnppes, piccarel, and beer, 

 Cuine into l-^nglaiid all in one year," 



we confess we are not prepared to give it credence. 



The Meleagrk of the ancients was not a turkey, but a Guinea-fowl. Linna^'US, however, 

 has given this as the generic name for the tinkoys, which were not known to the ancients, 

 and ornithologists have continued il. Nor is this of much consequence. It is now 



• Mckagris (jallo-pavo. — Linii. 



