2o8 Cox iw Rare Ne-w Brunswick Birds. 



the ocean by long winding sand bars, or 'beaches,' swarm with 

 Geese, Brant, Ducks, Cormorants, Gulls, Terns, etc., converting 

 this locality into the finest shooting ground to be found anywhere 

 on the Atlantic coast of America, where hundreds of sporting 

 gentlemen resort every year. Moreover, an additional charm 

 attaches to it as an observing station because of its proximity to 

 the Baie des Chaleurs, the generally accepted northern coast 

 limit of the Canadian Fauna, and many interesting problems in 

 ornithology, respecting the range of several species, may be 

 worked out in this section. 



Having premised so much, I will now proceed to deal with 

 the subject of this sketch. 



About the ioth of January, 1SS4. some farmers in the neigh- 

 borhood of Nequac, an Acadian village on the northern shore of 

 Miramichi Bay, observed what they took to be a stray Turkey, 

 feeding almost daily around their houses and farmyards. Think- 

 ing it belonged to some villager, they did not molest it It was 

 remarked, however, that the bird did not roost at night about 

 the outbuildings ; it generally disappeared at sunset, no one knew 

 whither ; but early next morning it would be found industriously 

 turning over refuse and manure, apparently as tame and con- 

 fiding as an ordinary domestic fowl. It would permit a person 

 to approach within six or eight feet before seeming to notice his 

 presence ; then it would flutter to the nearest post, returning to 

 the ground almost immediately. Its decided preference for gar- 

 bage became at length the subject of discussion in the neigh- 

 borhood, and several, among whom was Mr. Ruben Vienneau, 

 began to grow skeptical about the stranger's genus. It was 

 pointed out, however, that the Turkey had a well known weak- 

 ness for flesh food, and was not particularly exact, sometimes, 

 about the quality either; but Mr. Vienneau, having witnessed 

 some of the stranger's wondrous gastronomic feats in swallowing 

 wholesale large quantities of disgusting offal, refused to be con- 

 verted from the apparent error of his ways. He continued to 

 watch its movements and habits with more suspicious eyes. The 

 booked beak, long middle toe, and absence of the noisy 'gobble' 

 were all noted and discussed, and finally the bird began to lose 

 caste. Many plans were taken to effect its capture, but in vain. 

 'Childlike and bland' when feeding, even stupidly indifferent 

 sometimes, it seemed capable, however, of exercising a surprising 



