TURKEY SHOOTING 423 
structed the night before, or in some thicket, listens 
carefully for the first calling of the turkey, to which he 
responds. In this way he may succeed in drawing 
several turkeys toward him. 
The instrument used in calling turkeys is sometimes 
made of the bone of the bird’s wing, sometimes of a 
little box floored with a piece of slate, the cry being 
caused by the stroke of another piece of slate on the 
slate in the box. At all events, the noise must be a 
good imitation of the turkey’s cry, for the great bird 
is one of the most acute of fowls, and very little escapes 
either its eye or its ear. If the imitation of the cry is 
a poor one, answers will soon cease to come, and the 
birds will retreat. 
Some years ago a correspondent, Tripod, wrote 
from Mississippi a brief but vivid account of the kill- 
ing of a turkey by Miss Mary C. Breckenridge, whose 
experience with a shotgun was limited, but who, when 
the occasion arose, showed herself an apt pupil of her 
skilled instructor. She was new to the woods, and 
after traveling for some distance made up her mind 
that turkeys were a myth. Nevertheless, it was de- 
cided to call, and after a time, in the open woods, Miss 
Mary selected a good log for an ambuscade, while Tri- 
pod used the yelper, and at once received an answer 
from a nearby bird. The turkey kept approaching, 
ing, but before he had been seen a shot in the distance 
frightened him and he ceased answering. The turkey 
hunters sat quietly for a time, uttering now and then 
a little yelp, or cluck, when a twig snapped, and as 
