202 WILD TURKEY. 



western territory of the United States to the Isthmus of Panama, south 

 of -which it is not to be found, notwithstanding the statements of authors, 

 who have mistaken the Curassow for it. In Canada, and the now 

 densely peopled parts of the United States, Wild Turkeys Avere formerly 

 very abundant ; but, like the Indian and Buffalo, they have been com- 

 pelled to yield to the destructive ingenuity of the white settlers, often 

 wantonly exercised, and seek refuge in the remotest parts of the inte- 

 rior. Although they relinquish their native soil with slow and reluctant 

 steps, yet such is the rapidity with which settlements are extended and 

 condensed over the surface of this country, that we may anticipate a 

 day, at no distant period, when the hunter will seek the Wild Turkey 

 in vain. 



We have neglected no means of obtaining information from various 

 parts of the Union, relative to this interesting bird ; and having been 

 assisted by the zeal and politeness of several individuals, who, in different 

 degress, have contributed to our stock of knowledge on this subject, we 

 return them our best thanks. We have particular satisfaction in acknow- 

 ledging the kindness of Mr. John J. Audubon, from whom we have 

 received a copious narrative, containing a considerable portion of the 

 valuable notes collected by him, on this bird, during twenty years that 

 he has been engaged in studying Ornithology, in the only book free from 

 error and contradiction, the great book of nature. His observations, 

 principally made in Kentucky and Louisiana, proved the more interest- 

 ing, as we had received no information from those states : we have, in 

 consequence, been enabled to enrich the present article with several new 

 details of the manners and habits of the Wild Turkey. 



The wooded parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama; 

 the unsettled portions of the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and 

 Illinois ; the vast expanse of territory north-west of these states, on the 

 Mississippi and Missouri, as far as the forests extend, are more abund- 

 antly supplied, than any other parts of the Union, with this valuable 

 game, which forms an important part of the subsistence of the hunter 

 and traveller in the wilderness. It is not probable that the range of 

 this bird extends to, or beyond, the Rocky Mountains ; the Mandan 

 Indians, who a few years ago visited the city of Washington, considered 

 the Turkey one of the greatest curiosities they had seen, and prepared 

 a skin of one, to carry home for exhibition. 



The Wild Turkey is not very plenty in Florida, Georgia, and the 

 Carolinas ; is still less frequently found in the western parts of Vir- 

 ginia and Pennsylvania ; and is extremely rare, if indeed it exists at all, 

 in the remaining northern and eastern parts of the United States : in 

 New England, it even appears to have been already destroyed one hun- 

 dred and fifty years back. I am, however, credibly informed, that Wild 

 Turkeys are yet to be found in the mountainous districts of Sussex 



