250 The Turkey Family 



Those who know the wild gobbler in his pride 

 will possibly agree with me in the belief that 

 when the bald eagle was selected to pose as an 

 emblem of this country, a serious error was made. 

 It is true that the eagle can scream, while the 

 turkey can only gobble ; but quiet, persistent gob- 

 bling, especially of markets, carrying trade, and 

 carelessly located adjacent isles, is not such a 

 profitless business. 



With all due respect to the bald-headed old 

 scavenger whose portrait is so familiar to experts 

 in the line of negotiable currency, he is by no 

 means emblematic of the true American spirit. 

 He soars — good! He dares the upper blue; 

 with storm-defying pinion and sun-gazing, glitter- 

 ing optic he swings wide and free ; afar in cold, 

 thin air he cuts his mighty swath in the full 

 glare, and before the upturned orbs of the nations 

 at gaze. His voice comes down like a clarion 

 blast from heaven itself; then he comes down 

 — down to the level of the steaming beaches 

 where the stinking fish form windrows ; to the 

 sodden fields, where sleeps the ancient kine on 

 the site of the exhausted straw-stack ; and of that 

 frappeed beef, with its breath like a pent-up pesti- 

 lence and its udder like a poisoned ice-cream 

 freezer, the emblem maketh his royal meal. In 

 other words he soars, but he eats dirt, which is 

 distinctly un-American, Furthermore, he watches 



