Family Meleagride 
WILD TURKEY 
310. Meleagres gallopavo silvestris. 48 in. 
Female much smaller and duller colored than the 
male. These fine, large birds frequent woodlands and 
borders of streams, where they search through the un- 
derbrush for food in the daytime and sleep in the tall- 
est trees at night. They are one of the shyest birds, 
and they have reasons for being, for they have been 
hunted until there are none left in New England and 
northern Middle States. Wild Turkeys strut and gob- 
ble precisely like domestic ones. Their plumage is 
more of a coppery bronze color and their upper tail 
coverts are rusty, without white edges. 
Nest.—Eggs laid on the ground among leaves, usu- 
ally in dense thickets; buff, spotted with brown. (2.55 
x 1.90). 
Range.—From Penn. and Ohio south to the Gulf 
States west to Arkansas. 310b., Florida Wild Tur- 
key. found in Florida, is smaller. 310¢., Rio Grande 
Turkey, is found in southern Texas; it has upper tail- 
coverts edged with buff. 
