M a i i (/ c h u setts Audubon Society 9 



WILD TURKEYS IN THE ADIRONDACKS 



(Reprinted from The Conservationist) 



Of the great number of upland game birds, the wild turkey should stand 

 pre-eminently at the head of the sporting list; but there are few persons, 

 perhaps, who realize that the purity of this wonderful bird is at the present 

 time almost lost, owing to its having interbred so much in its native heath 

 with the domestic bird. Not many years ago wild turkeys could be found 

 in many of the northern states and parts of lower Canada, but today, 

 deplorable as it may seem, they have disappeared from all their former 

 ranges in the north, and are found only in greatly reduced numbers within 

 restricted areas of the southern states. 



It may not be known to the readers of The Conservationist that there 

 exists at this time a beautiful flock of these wonderful birds, in all their 

 purity, within the borders of the Adirondack Park. Yet such is the case. 

 In their snowy Adirondack home, where weather of all kinds does not affect 

 them, they have established themselves perfectly in a state of domestication 

 at the home of the writer near North River. 



Since he was a small boy, the writer has been deeply interested in the 

 breeding of wild game birds, especially the wild turkey, and he has perhaps 

 given more time to this enterprise than any man in the country. The hardest 

 part of the undertaking has been to secure turkeys of absolutely pure wild 

 blood, with no possible trace of tame stock. This has been necessary in 

 order to retain the vigor and hardihood of the flocks, for there are few birds 

 so quickly affected by inbreeding as the wild turkey. 



The turkeys which we now find untainted with traces of domestic blood 

 are largely those in the extreme southern states, owing, perhaps, to the 

 inaccessible places of refuge to which they have retreated under the advance 

 of civilization. Virginia was once the native heath of the beautiful buff- 

 tipped wild type, but in recent years the purity of the strain has been almost 

 lost through introduction by the settlers of tame turkeys, which have freelv 

 interbred with the native wild stock. At the present time it is hard to get 

 a specimen in Virginia that does not show domestic blood, more or less 

 remote. 



It is true that these cross-bred birds are quite suitable for sport, as they 

 are strong on the wing, and quickly adapt themselves to conditions. But 

 the real, genuine, wild birds, as thev were a hundred years ago, are not to be 

 compared with the crosses with which we are compelled to satisfy ourselves 

 today. The true wild birds are of the most gorgeous and brilliant plumage, 

 especially the adults in full dress after the first moult. Each feather is 

 tipped with a metallic, coppery bronze, which glistens in the sunlight like 

 burnished gold, and the ends of fluff" and tail are a deep chocolate or intense 

 buff" color. This is the true character of the wild turkey and distinguishes 

 it from its barnyard cousin, who always shows white tips to tail and fluff. 



While at the beginning of our experiments with wild turkeys we found 

 that they were somewhat delicate to handle, as time went on and we learned 

 many things heretofore unknown, they responded far beyond our expecta- 

 tions, and today we find them as easily bred as domestic chickens, and far 

 easier to raise to maturity than tame turkeys. 



