C. H. Merriarii — llirds of Coimeeticiit. 99 



tlu'ir londes about iioone. I liavc asked them wliat iiuiuber tliey 

 t'ouiid ill the woods, who have answered neent nietawiia, whicli is a 

 thousand tliat day ; the plenty of them is such in those parts. They 

 are easily killed at rooste, because the one being killed, the other sit 

 fast neverthelesse, and this is no bad commodity."* Lhisley says : 

 "The last Wild Tixrkey that I have known in Connecticut, was taken 

 by a relative of mine, about thirty years since [about IHl;?], on 

 Totoket Mountain, in Northford. It was overtaken in a deep snow, 

 and thereby oiitrun. It weighed, when dressed, twenty-one pounds."| 

 III 1842, Zadock Thompson wrote that a few "continue still to visit 

 and breed upon the mountains in the southern part of the State" 

 (Vermont). J As late as 1833 it was "frequently met with on Mt. 

 riolyoke," but had " become scarce and nearly extinct" in other parts 

 of the State.§ Professor Wm. D. Whitney once mounted a fine 

 specimen of the Wild Turkey killed on Mt. Tom, Mass., Nov. 1st, 

 1847. It may noAV be seen in the beautiful case of birds given by 

 Prof. Whitney to the Peabody Museum of Yale College, and is of 

 ))articular value as being, in all probability, the last of its race seen 

 in that State. In the month of October, " the Turkey Moon of the 

 aborigines," they used to wander far and wide in quest of food, fre- 

 quently assembling in vast numbers in districts where there was an 

 abundance. Audubon tells us that " When they come upon a river, 

 they betake themselves to the highest eminences, and there often 

 remain a whole day, or sometimes two, as if for the purpose of con- 

 sultation. During this time the males are heard gobling, calling, and 

 making much ado, and are seen strutting about, as if to raise their 

 courage to a pitch befitting the emergency. Even the females and 

 young assume something of the same pompous demeanor, spread out 

 their tails, and run round each other, purrinr/ loiidly, and pei"forming 

 extravagant leaps. At length, when the weather appears settled, 

 and all round is quiet, the whole party mount to the tops of the 

 highest trees, Avhence, at a signal, consisting of a single cluch^ given 

 by a leader, the flock takes flight for the opposite shore."|| 



Josselyn says "their eggs are very wholesome and restore decayed 

 nature exceedingly."^ 



* Reprinted in Force's Historical Tracts, Tract 5, p. 48. 



f Am. Jovir. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, No. 2, p. 264. April, 184.3. 



% History of Vermont, Natnral, Civil, and Statistical. By Z. Thompson, p. 1 01 . 1S42. 



§ See Hitchcock's Report, p. r)49. 183.3. 



II Andnbon's Birds of America, vol. v, p. 4.3. 



T[ Two Voyag-es to New Enpland. p. 99. 1 ^75. 



