fAuk 



78 Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. [j an 



among the "Fowle naturally to the Land." In 1688, Mr. John 

 Clayton the Botanist, communicates to the Royal Society the 

 following : 1 " Ther be wild Turkies extream large ; they talk of 

 Turkies that have been kill'd, that have weighed betwixt 50 and 

 60 Pound weight; the largest that I ever saw, weigh'd someting 

 better than 38 Pound; they have very long Legs, and will run 

 prodigiously fast. I remember not that ever I saw any of them 

 on the Wing, except it were once. Their Feathers are of a blackish 

 shining Colour, that in the Sun shine like a Dove's neck, very 

 specious." The year previous, 1687, Richard Blome (1. c. p. 189) 

 holds, "They have great plenty of Fowl: as wild Turkeys, which 

 usually weigh six Stone, or forty eight pound;" Finally, in "The 

 Social Life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century," P. A. Bruce 

 (1. c. pp. 212, 167) writes as follows: "As the area of cultivated 

 ground grew wider, the number of partridges steadily increased in 

 consequence of their being able to find a larger supply of food. 

 On the other hand, the number of wild turkeys perhaps as steadily 

 diminished within the same area, as the turkey is distinctly a forest 

 bird, that is very shy of human habitations." "The wild turkeys 

 frequenting the woods were of remarkable weight and afforded a 

 popular repast." 



In the eighteenth century, the records number fourteen or 

 fifteen. In 1705, Robert Beverley in his "History and Present 

 State of Virginia. London" (book III, p. 60) writes that "They 

 (Indian) fledged their Arrows with Turkey Feathers, which they 

 fastened with Glue etc., — they also headed them with the Spurs of 

 the Wild Turkey-Cock." In 1708, Eben Cook, in burlesque 

 verse, remarks its presence in Maryland and adds a footnote that 2 

 " Wild turkies are very good Meat, and prodigiously large in Mary- 

 land." In the " History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and 

 North Carolina" William Byrd (1728) mentions a dozen or more 

 instances where wild turkeys help to supply the larder. On Sept. 

 23, he says 3 " Our hunters brought us four wild turkeys, which at 



i Force, P. Vol. Ill, p. 30. 



2 Sheas Early Southern Tracts. No. II. The Sotweed Factor. London, 1708, 

 pp. 19, 20. 



> The Westover Manuscripts. Petersburg, Va., 1841, pp. 39, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 

 52, 54, 64, 69, 76, 78, 80. 



