356 Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. [f^ 



the prodigious size of wild turkeys.^ "I saw one, that had been 

 hatched from an egg found in the forest: he was a noble, majestic 

 bird, at least a yard high, when he stood upright; his colour was 

 dark dusky brown; but the feathers of the neck, breast, back and 

 shoulder, were tipped with copper colour, which in the sun looked 

 like burnished gold. The American turkeys are twice as large as 

 those we have in England, particularly as to height as their necks 

 and legs are longer in proportion. Both the cock and the hen are 

 brown, not having a black feather on them; but the cock is beauti- 

 fully adorned with variable shades, as I have already mentioned." 

 In 1810 Christian Schultz finds them common at the mouth of the 

 Ohio. He writes,^ "I likewise saw several broods of wild turkey, 

 produced in a similar w^ay: these are procured by placing the eggs, 

 which are frequently found in the woods, under a hen or a tame 

 turkey, and the brood become as much attached to the barnyard 

 as if they had a claim to it by hereditary right. I shot several 

 dozens of wild turkeys in descending the river, but could never 

 discover the least difference betwixt them and those we have 

 domesticated. They can scarcely be denominated wild, as we 

 frequently passed within thirty yards of flocks which were drinking 

 by the river, without their showing the least signs of alarm." 

 At the Chickasaw bluff on the Mississippi River, Monteile (June 2, 

 1817) shoots a very fine wild turkey which proves excellent eating.^ 

 " Its fat was not confined to a particular part, as with our domesti- 

 cated turkeys, but spread throughout the flesh, which renders it 

 much more savoury; they are the same size as the latter, but more 

 active. We had often seen them upon the banks, surrounded 

 by eight or ten young ones; but on approaching, they fled to the 

 forest; all of them appeared to be of a dark brown colour." 



The famous Schoolcraft (1821) in his "Travels in the Central 

 Portions of the Mississippi Valley" (N. Y., 1825, p. 71) remarks 

 that "With regard to the (turkey), an opinion has been advanced, 



1 Wakefield, Priscilla. Excursions in North America London, 1806, 



pp. 84-87. 



2 Schultz, Christian. Travels on an Inland Voyage through the States of New 



York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee New York, 



2 vols., 1810, Vol. II, p. 19. 



3 Monteile, E. A Voyage to North America, and the West Indies, in 1817. 

 London, 1821, p. 73. 



