224 Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. [April 



regard the fact to be ascertained as firmly as if I had killed the whole 

 flock. This dull propensity in these animals must ultimately oper- 

 ate to their destruction. There is no manner of doubt but had 

 such a flock come within reach of a sportsman of the Virginia shore, 

 he would have brought every one of them to the ground." 



In 1812, James L. Barton when at Tymoctee Creek, finds that 1 

 " the wild turkeys began to gobble in the woods (at daylight), and 

 they made nearly as much noise" as the wolves during the night. 

 In the "History of Athens Co., O.," Chas. M. Walker (1. c, p. 486, 

 479) asserts that in 1810 "turkeys were very plenty" and in 1820 

 in the fall season the settlers killed " turkeys beyond count for the 



winter stock." In his "Pedestrious Tour, Concord, N. H. 



1819," Estwick Evans says that west of the Connecticut Reserve 2 

 "Wild Turkeys too, are here numerous, and they sometimes weigh 

 from 20 to 30 pounds." Two years later, 1821, Schoolcraft when 

 along the banks of Auglaize near Defiance, O., reports that 3 

 "Tracks. . . .of the meleagris gallipavo or turkey, were frequently 

 noticed in our path; and these indigenous species of the American 

 forest, are represented to be still abundant in this quarter." . In 

 1822, James Flint on the Ohio river recounts how he 4 "saw a man 

 fire a shot at a flock of wild turkeys. These fowl were so far from 

 being coy, that they flew only a little way, and alighted again on 

 the trees." When 13 miles from Chillicothe, he says "A few. . . . 

 turkeys remain It does not require a thick population to ex- 

 terminate bears, deer and turkeys." The same year, John Woods 

 when at Troy, O., 6 "passed fourteen or fifteen wild turkeys, in a 

 field. As they only gently walked into the woods, I did not suspect 

 they were wild ones; but mentioning them at the cabin, I was told 

 there were no tame turkeys for some miles, but plenty of wild ones." 

 T. Vigne already quoted (1. c, p. 87, reports turkeys for Mansfield, 



O., in 1832 but asserts that " However, I met with no turkey, " 



(To be concluded.) 



1 Barton, J. L. Early Reminiscences of Western New York and the Lake 

 Region Country. Buffalo, 1848, p. 52. 



* Early Western Travels, Vol. VIII, p. 195 (orig. p. 96). 



3 Schoolcraft, H. R. Travels in Central Portions of the Mississippi Valley. 

 New York, 1825, p. 71. 



4 Early Western Travels, Vol. IX, pp. 112 (orig. p. 88) 120, 121 (orig. p. 96). ' 

 « ibid., Vol. X, pp. 249. 250 (orig. p. 122). 



