292 PHEASANTS. 



Sub- Family IV. 



TIIK TURKEYS. MELEAGRIN/E. 



General Charactf.ristics. — Tail more or less short and pendent; the head and 

 neck denuded of plumes, or only covered with scattered hairs or carunculated ; the 

 base of the lower mandible sometimes wattled. 



The wandering habits of these birds occasion them to be found 

 in the forests, prairies, and open tracts of various parts of the 

 northern continent of America. The males Hve in small societies 

 of ten to a hundred, and seek their food apart from the females, 

 who are occupied in feeding their young and concealing them 

 from the attacks of the other sex ; but should the parties meet 

 in some ground where their favourite food is very abundant, they 

 intermix and partake of the repast. Turkeys are found in a wild 

 state throughout North America, from Canada to the Isthmus of 

 Panama ; and far from being improved by the care of man, they 

 have in a state of domesticity become remarkably degenerated. 

 The wild bird when at liberty will weigh from twenty to sixty 

 pounds, and when standing upright will measure at least three 

 feet in height. Formerly these birds were common in Canada 

 and in the central parts of the United States ; but they have 

 gradually fallen back before the advance of cultivation, although 

 they seem to yield their country to the husbandman only inch by 

 inch. Still, it is not difficult to predict that the time of their 

 complete extirpation is not remote. The wild turkeys live for 

 the most part in the forests, where they feed upon fruits. During 

 the summer-time they associate in little bands, but in the winter 

 unite to form flocks, which issue from their retreat and approach 

 inhabited districts. This season is called by the North American 

 Indians the "Turkey month," and during its continuance great 

 numbers are killed, and preserved in a frozen state to be trans- 

 ported to the European settlements. It is only in the remote 

 parts of the country that these birds can be said to be met with 

 in abundance. They are ver)' wild, and, although much larger 

 than the domesticated race, are not easily discovered except by 

 accident in their chosen retreats ; for, on the slightest alarm, they 

 at once hide themselves among the long grass and impenetrable 

 brushwood, which is likewise their usual defence against birds of 

 prey. ^Moreover, they are naturally in the habit of acting as 

 guardians to each other : the first who perceives the approach of 



