136 PHEASANTS AND TURKEYS 



white ; face, legs, and feet dull red. Male : leng'th 40, wing 10.50, tail 

 24. Female : length 20.50, wing 9.10, tail 9.80. 



Distribution. — Southern China. Introduced into western Oregon and 

 Protection Island, Washington. 



GENUS MELEAGRIS. 



General Characters. — Head and upper neck naked ; the skin wrinkled 

 or warted, tlie forehead with extensile appendage, smaller in females ; 

 tail rounded, tarsus naked, spurred in male ; sexes similar, but females 

 duller. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Tail coverts tipped with huffy whitish .... merriami, p. 136. 

 1'. Tail coverts tipped with brown. 



2. Tail coverts tipped with dark chestnut fera, p. 136. 



2'. Tail coverts tipped with cinnamon or cinnamon buff. 



intermedia, p. 136. 



310. Meleagris gallopavo merriarai iVe/son. Merriam Tur- 

 key. 



Adult male. — Head and neck bare, dull bluish, strip of skin hanging 

 from above bill ; chest with bristly tuft of beard ; feathers of under parts 

 metallic bronzy green and reddish, tipped with vehet black ; feathers of 

 lower back and rump metallic, tipped with black ; tail, tail coverts, and 

 feathers of low.er rump tipped with buffy ivhitish. Adult female : similar, but 

 smaller, and colors duller. Male: length 48-50, wing 21, tail 18.50. 



Distribution. — Mountains of southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, 

 western Texas, and northern Chihuahua and ISonora, Mexico. 



Nest. — A hollow lined with leaves, weeds, and grass, sometimes under 

 shelter of a yucca, grass, or bushes. Eggs: 8 to 14, white, dotted over 

 entire surface with reddish brown. 



Food. — Insects, seeds, beri'ies, plant tops, and cactus fruit. 



In the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona one may occasion- 

 ally find wild turkeys. In Arizona they have been seen by shep- 

 herds in the notches between the highest peaks of San Francisco 

 Mountain. 



310a. M. g. fera (Vieill.). Wild Turkey. 



Like M. g. merriami, but tail tipped Avith deep rusty, coverts and feathers 

 of lower rump rich dark chestnut. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States from southwestern Pennsylvania 

 to the Gulf coast, and west to southwestern Kansas along wooded river 

 valleys. 



Nest. — On the ground, sometimes lined with leaves and pine needles. 

 Eggs : 8 to 13, creamy to buffy, marked with brown. 



Food. — Grasshoppers, crickets, and other insects ; acorns, nuts, seeds, 

 grain, berries, and plant tops. 



310c. M. g. intermedia Sennett. Rio Grande Turkey. 



Similar to M. g. merriami, but lower back and rump jet black — feathers 

 showing steel gray bars in certain lights — and tail and lower coverts 

 tipped with cinnamon or cinnamon buff. 



Distribution. — Lowlands of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. 



