206 WILD TURKEY. 



in their speed of foot : at this season, however, they are of no value to 

 the hunter, being meagre and covered with ticks. By thus retiring, 

 using very little exercise, and feeding on peculiar grasses, they recover 

 their flesh and strength, and Avhen this object is attained, again congre- 

 gate, and recommence their rambles. 



About the middle of April, when the weather is dry, the female 

 selects a proper place in which to deposit her eggs, secured from the 

 encroachment of water, and, as far as possible, concealed from the 

 Avatchful eye of the Crow : this crafty bird espies the hen going to her 

 nest, and having discovered the precious deposit, waits for the absence 

 of the parent, and removes every one of the eggs from the spot, that he 

 may devour them at leisure. The nest is placed on the ground, either 

 on a dry ridge, in the fallen top of a dead leafy tree, under a thicket of 

 sumach or briars, or by the side of a log; it is of a very simple struc- 

 ture, being composed of a few dried leaves. In this receptacle the eggs 

 are deposited, sometimes to the number of twenty,' but more usually 

 from nine to fifteen ; they are whitish, spotted with reddish-brown, like 

 those of the domestic bird. Their manner of building, number of eggs, 

 period of incubation, &c., appear to correspond throughout the Union, 

 as I have received exactly similar accounts from the northern limits of 

 the Turkey range, to the most southern regions of Florida, Louisiana, 

 and the western wilds of Missouri. 



The female always approaches her nest with great caution, varying 

 her course so as rarely to reach it twice by the same route ; and, on 

 leaving her charge, she is very careful to cover the whole with dry 

 leaves, with which she conceals it so artfully, as to make it extremely 

 difiicult, even for one who has watched her movements, to indicate the 

 exact spot : hence few nests are found, and these are generally dis- 

 covered by fortuitously starting the female from them, or by the ap- 

 pearance of broken shells, scattered around by some cunning Lynx, 

 Fox, or Crow. When laying or sitting, the Turkey hen is not readily 

 driven from her post by the approach of apparent danger ; but if an 

 enemy appears, she crouches as low as possible, and suffers it to pass. 

 A circumstance related by Mr. Audubon, will show how much intelli- 

 gence they display on such occasions : having discovered a sitting hen, 

 he remarked that, by assuming a careless air, whistling, or talking to 

 himself, he was permitted to pass within five or six feet of her ; but, if 

 he advanced cautiously, she would not suffer him to come within twenty 

 paces, but ran off twenty or thirty yards with her tail expanded, when, 

 assuming a stately gait, she paused on every step, occasionally uttering 

 a chuck. They seldom abandon their nests on account of being dis- 

 covered by man, but should a snake or any other animal suck one of the 

 eggs, the parent leaves them altogether. If the eggs be removed, she 

 ftgain seeks the male and recommences laying, though otherwise she 



