THE WILD TURKEY. 23 



drum, yelp, and gobble so accurately that tliey would 

 deceive the oldest veteran in the forest and bring him 

 within range of their riiie or shot-gun at the proper season. 

 The caller made out of the wing-bone of a turkey is 

 probably one of the simplest and best that can be ob- 

 tained, as all a person has to do is to put one end into 

 his mouth and draw the air through it, and if he knows 

 his business he can imitate the notes of the female. 



Some men make a caller by sawing off about two 

 inches of the end of a cow's horn, and cutting a piece of 

 shingle so that it will fit the small end of the piece sawed 

 off. By boring a hole in the middle of the shmglc, and 

 inserting in it a piece of wood about the thickness of a 

 large nail and long enough to project a short distance 

 beyond the open end of the horn, and scraping this stick 

 on a piece of slate, the familiar " keouk " of the hen can 

 be imitated. 



A very good caller is made out of a tapering cylinder 

 of hard-wood, about six inches long, an inch in diameter 

 at the bottom, half an inch at the top, and hollowed in 

 such a manner that it will correspond with the outside 

 shape. By inserting in this a small piece of cane, about 

 seven or eight inches long, and having a very fine open- 

 ing through it, nearly every note of the turkey, except 

 the gobble, may be produced. One made out of the large 

 wing-bone of the turkey, that nearest the body, is very 

 popular with some hunters, as it is portable and easily 

 prepared. This is made by cutting a crescent-like open- 

 ing in one end of the bone; the small end is then cut 

 off; the bone is cleaned out; a nicely fitting j^lugof wood, 

 with a small hole in it, is inserted into the piece cut off ; 

 and into this wood a piece of cane, having a fine opening 

 running through it, is fitted as in the wooden caller. 



Still another is made out of a piece of cedar about two 

 mches long, one and a half inches wide, and one-fourth 

 of an inch m thickness. This is hollowed out to within 



