BIO GRANDE TURKEY 343 



black with white bars in contrast with M. gallopavo the primaries of which 

 are white with black bars. 



The range or habitat of this race, so far as known at the present time, is 

 restricted to the lowlands of eastern Mexico and southern Texas. It will 

 probably not be found south of Vera Cruz, nor is it likely to be met with to 

 the north beyond the Brazos River of Texas, its range being thus restricted 

 within about ten degrees of latitude. Wherever timber and food are in abun- 

 dance we find this new form common to the coast and lowlands, and we could 

 not expect to find it at an altitude exceeding 2,000 feet above sea-level ; while 

 the variety mexicana is found only at the higher altitudes from 3,000 to 10,000 

 feet above the sea. 



The Rio Grande turkey is now known to have been quite widely 

 distributed in Texas from the central-northern part southward and 

 westward into northern Mexico, though it has become much scarcer 

 except in the wilder portions of the State. Writing of this turkey in 

 Kerr County, Tex., Howard Lacey (1911) says: 



Formerly very common, but getting rather scarce now that the shotgun is 

 becoming almost as common a piece of furniture as the rifle in the ranchman's 

 house. These birds are so foolishly tame when about half grown as they are 

 wild and able to take care of themselves when fully mature; if they were not 

 shot at until fully grown and allowed to roost in peace at night, there is no 

 reason why we should not have them always with us. Armadillos and skunks 

 sometimes roll the eggs out of the nests, and they have plenty of enemies 

 besides the boy with the shotgun. 



Austin P. Smith (1916), referring to the same general region, 

 writes : 



There can be little doubt that, at the present time, Wild Turkeys exist in 

 greater numbers in Kerr and adjoining counties than in any other part of 

 Texas. Their abundance may be accounted for, as the result of the encroach- 

 ment of the Cedar and various species of scrubby oaks upon lands formerly 

 under cultivation or in pasture; to the decrease in numbers of the Armadillo 

 (Tatu novemcinetum texanum) which of late years have been much hunted for 

 commercial purposes ; and to the enactment of a law limiting the open season 

 and the number that may be killed. During the winter spent in the region 

 several heavy snowfalls occurred. These caused many turkeys to seek open 

 spots in the valleys and along fence rows, often in the vicinity of human habi- 

 tations, and I recall one flock of seven hunting for several hours within a hun- 

 dred feet of the building I lived in. 



George F. Simmons (1925) says its haunts in the Austin region 

 are " wild, rough, brushy, country ; dry, big-timbered arroyos run- 

 ning back from watered creeks; hill and valley country; shin oak 

 clumps on hillsides; creek bottoms and lower slopes; wild, less-fre- 

 quented, thinly settled country, particularly in the mountains and 

 notches in the hills." 



Nesting. — Simmons describes the nest as a " slight hollow, scraped 

 out by the bird, lined with grasses and leaves, among low bushes, in 

 dense woods along streams, in tangles of briar vines, and in thick 



