204 WILD TURKEY. 



If, in thus endeavoring to regain the land, they approach an elevated 

 or inaccessible bank, their exertions are remitted, they resign them- 

 selves to the stream, for a short time, in order to gain strength, and 

 then, with one violent effort, escape from the water. But in this attempt 

 all are not successful ; some of the weaker, as they cannot rise suffi- 

 ciently high in air to clear the bank, fall again and again into the water, 

 and thus miserably perish. Immediately after these birds have suc- 

 ceeded in crossing a river, they for some time ramble about without any 

 apparent unanimity of purpose, and a great many are destroyed by the 

 hunters, although they are then least valuable. 



When the Turkeys have arrived in their land of abundance, they dis- 

 perse in small flocks, composed of individuals of all sexes and ages 

 intermingled, who devour all the mast as they advance ; this occurs 

 about the middle of November. It has been observed, that, after these 

 long journeys, the Turkeys become so familiar as to venture on the 

 plantations, and even approach so near the farm-houses as to enter the 

 stables and corn-cribs, in search of food : in this way they pass the 

 autumn, and part of the winter. During this season great numbers are 

 killed by the inhabitants, who preserve them in a frozen state, in order 

 to transport them to a distant market. 



Early in March they begin to pair ; and, for a short time previous, 

 the females separate from, and shun their mates, though the latter per- 

 tinaciously follow them, uttering their gobbling note. The sexes roost 

 apart, but at no great distance, so that when the female utters a call, 

 every male within hearing responds, rolling note after note, in the most 

 rapid succession ; not as when spreading the tail and strutting near the 

 near, but in a voice resembling that of the Tame Turkey, when he hears 

 any unusual or frequently repeated noise. Where the Turkeys are 

 numerous, the woods from one end to the other, sometimes for hundreds 

 of miles, resound with this remarkable voice of their wooing, uttered 

 responsively from their roosting places. This is continued for about an 

 hour ; and, on the rising of the sun, they silently descend from their 

 perches, and the males begin to strut, for the purpose of winning the 

 admiration of their mates. 



If the call be given from the ground, the males in the vicinity fly 

 towards the individual, and, whether they perceive her or not, erect and 

 spread their tails, throw the head backwards, distend the comb and wat- 

 tles, strut pompously, and rustle their wings and body feathers, at the 

 same moment ejecting a puff of air from the lungs. Whilst thus occu- 

 pied, they occasionally halt to look out for the female, and then resume 

 their strutting and puffing, moving with as much rapidity as the nature 

 of their gait will admit. During this ceremonious approach the males 

 often encounter each other, and desperate battles ensue, when the con- 

 flict is only terminated by the flight or death of the vanquished. 



