26 Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Birds of Southern Texas. 



larly so on the rivers between San Antonio and the Rio Grande. 

 My first Turkey-hunt was on the Upper Medina river, about 

 forty miles from San Antonio ; and I was fortunate enough to 

 kill a couple of gobblers with the first two shots I fired, which 

 was more than I expected, as I must confess that on first seeing 

 them I felt a sensation something akin to what the Americans 

 call " buck-ague." Since that I have killed many Turkeys in 

 Texas, both for sport and the pot. The most I ever killed in 

 one day was nine, all of which I shot from the roost one evening. 



They are very wary and difficult to approach during the day- 

 time ; but by watching to see where they roost, and paying them 

 a visit there by moonlight, one can be pretty sure of bagging 

 one or two. They generally prefer roosting in high cotton- 

 wood trees on the banks of a stream, and perch as high up as 

 possible. I once counted eleven on one large bough of a cotton- 

 wood tree on the Medina. When the pecan-nuts are ripe, the 

 Turkeys become very fat, as they are extremely fond of these 

 nuts, which are oily. I shot an unusually fat bird in November 

 1863 ; and taking it to San Antonio to have it weighed, I found 

 it, without its entrails (for I had drawn them in order to keep 

 it as fresh as possible), to weigh nearly sixteen pounds. 



I never succeeded in finding a Turkey's nest, but was told by 

 hunters who had done so that the birds scratch a hole in the 

 ground, or make a sort of nest in the grass under a bush, and 

 that the eggs resemble those of the tame Turkey, but are rather 

 smaller and more elongated in form. The Mexicans on the 

 Upper Eio Grande sometimes have the Wild Turkey domesti- 

 cated; and at Piedras Negras I saw two which had been caught 

 when quite young and had become very tame. The female was 

 then sitting, and I had an opportunity of examining the eggs, 

 which I found to agree with the description of those found by 

 the hunters. 



CupiDONiA cupiDO (Linnaeus). Pinnated Grouse, or Prairie- 

 chicken. 



In travelling from Brownsville to Victoria, after leaving the 

 chapparral and entering the prairie-country, I found this bird 

 very common ; and throughout the whole of the prairie-country 

 of Texas it was abundant. 



