408 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The female is said to begin to deposit her eggs about the middle of April, 

 selecting for that purpose a place as much concealed as possible from her 

 many enemies. The nest, always on the ground, consists of a few with- 

 ered leaves in a hollow scratched out by the side of a fallen log, or the top 

 of a prostrate tree, or under a thicket, or within the edge of a cane-brake, 

 but always in a dry place. The eggs sometimes amount to twenty in 

 number, though there are usually from ten to fifteen. They are described 

 as of a dull cream-color, sprinkled with reddish dots. When the female 

 leaves her nest, she is said to be very careful to cover them with leaves, so 

 that it is always difficult for any one to find them. Mr. Audubon observed 

 that Turkey-hens not unfrequently selected small islands in which to deposit 

 their eggs, apparently on account of the great masses of drift-timber which 

 accumulated at their heads, in which they could seek protection and shelter. 



If a female is approached while sitting on her eggs, she rarely moves un- 

 less she is discovered. Mr. Audubon has frequently approached within a 

 few paces of a nest, the female remaining undisturbed. They seldom aban- 

 don their nest when it has been discovered by man, but forsake it if any of 

 the eggs have been destroyed by any kind of animal. If the eggs are taken 

 or destroyed, the female prepares for another nest, but otherwise has only one 

 brood in a season. Audubon also states that he has known several hens 

 associate together, deposit their eggs in the same nest, and rear their broods 

 together, having once found three hens sitting on forty-two eggs in a single 

 nest, one female at least being always present to protect it. When the eggs 

 are near hatching, the female will not leave her eggs under any circumstances, 

 and will suffer herself to be made a prisoner rather than abandon tliem. 

 The mother assists the young birds to extricate themselves from the egg- 

 shell, caresses and dries them with her bill, and aids them in their first 

 efforts to totter out of the nest. As the brood follow her, she is very watch- 

 ful against Hawks or other enemies, spreads her wings a little to protect 

 them, and calls them close to her side, keeping them on dry ground and care- 

 fully guarding them from wet, which is very injurious to them when young. 

 When two weeks old, they begin to be able to follow their mother, at night 

 to roost in the low limb of some tree, and to leave the woods in the daytime 

 in quest of berries and other food. The young usually feed on various kinds 

 of small berries and insects. The full-grown Turkeys prefer the pecan-nuts 

 and wild grapes to any other kind of food. 



They are also said to feed on grass, various kinds of plants, corn, and 

 other grain, seeds, fruit, and also upon beetles, small lizards, tadpoles, etc. 

 In feeding in the woods, they turn over the dry leaves with their feet, and 

 seem instinctively to know the presence of suitable food. They not unfre- 

 quently betray their presence in the neighborhood by the bare places they 

 thus leave behind them in the woods where they have been feeding. 



After heavy falls of snow and the formation of a hard crust, the Turkeys 

 are said to be compelled to remain several days on their roosts without food 

 thus proving their capability of enduring a continued abstinence. 



