EASTERN TURKEY 331 



about to leave them, covers them carefully with leaves, so that it is very diffi- 

 cult for a person who may have seen the bird to discover the nest. Indeed, few 

 Turkeys' nests are found. 



When an enemy passes within sight of a female, while laying or sitting 

 she never moves, unless she knows that she has been discovered, but crouches 

 lower until he has passed. I have frequently approached within five or six 

 paces of a nest, of which I was previously aware, on assuming an air of care- 

 lessness, and whistling or talking to myself, the female remaining undisturbed ; 

 whereas if I went cautiously towards it, she would never suffer me to approach 

 within twenty paces, but would run off, with her tail spread on one side, to a 

 distance of twenty or thirty yards, when assuming a stately gait, she would 

 walk about deliberately, uttering every now and then a cluck. They seldom 

 abandon their nest, when it has been discovered by men ; but, I believe, never 

 go near it again when a snake or other animal has sucked any of the eggs. If 

 the eggs have been destroyed or carried off, the female soon yelps again for a 

 male; but, in general, she rears only a single brood each season. Several hens 

 sometimes associate together, I believe for their mutual safety, deposit their 

 eggs in the same nest, and rear their broods together. I once found three sit- 

 ting on forty-two eggs. In such cases, the common nest is always watched by 

 one of the females, so that no Crow, Raven, or perhaps even Pole-cat, dares 

 approach it. 



Bendire (1892) refers to nests found in Nebraska and Texas in 

 more open situations. One is described as " a simple affair, on a 

 grassy hillside, in an exposed position, and lined with dead grass." 



George M. Sutton (1929) describes a nest in Pennsylvania, as 

 follows : 



On June 6, on a rocky mountainside about twelve miles from Lock Haven, 

 Clinton County, I examined a nest which held seventeen well-incubated eggs. 

 On the day before there had been eighteen eggs in it ; it is thought that a skunk 

 or fox had disturbed the nest, though the female bird evidently had been sitting 

 closely most of the time. This nest was built among small, angular rocks, and, 

 while not very well hidden from above, it was screened on all sides by thick 

 laurel, which made photography difficult. The female bird was either very un- 

 suspicious or remarkably brave, for she did not leave her nest while we were 

 near. Her broad back, with its squamate pattern and dull greenish lights, was 

 difficult to discern among the foliage and the intricate interlacing of shadows. 

 When first seen her neck was stretched out at full length in front of her, and 

 her plumage was spread and flattened out noticeably. When she realized she 

 was being observed she drew her head back and moved it slowly about in a 

 snakelike manner, while she gave forth strange hissing and grunting sounds. 

 When she had become accustomed to us she again stretched her neck out in 

 front of her. Occasionally, when disturbed, she gave a characteristic quit, 

 quit. 



Eggs. — The normal set for the wild turkey numbers from 8 to 15 

 eggs. The smaller sets are laid by young birds. As many as 18 

 or 20 eggs have been found in a nest, which were probably laid by 

 one bird. Occasionally two, or even three, birds lay in the same nest, 

 taking turns at incubating or guarding the nest; in such cases the 

 nest may contain many more eggs. 



The eggs are usually ovate in shape, but sometimes they are short 

 ovate, or elongate ovate and quite pointed. The shell is smooth, with 



