Vol.^XXXI-j Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. 357 



that it is not indigenous to our country; but the assertion of 

 Robertson on this subject, that this bird was one of those which 

 Cortes found in a state of domestication, on his arrival in Mexico, 

 would, it should seem, put to rest all dispute on this point, . . . . 

 The gallipavo is, in fact, a bird peculiar to North America, and is 

 found as a wild-fowl throughout all our forests, from Mexico to 

 the Northern Lakes, without any material variation in its specific 

 marks. It was unknown to the ancient writers on natural history, 

 and unknown in Europe, before the discovery of America. Authors 

 inform us that it was first seen in France, in the reign of Francis I, 

 and in England, in the reign of Henry VIII. By comparing the 

 epochs of these sovereigns it appears evident, that the first turkeys 

 must have been brought from Mexico, the conquest of which was 

 completed, A. D. 1521 — three hundred years antecendent to 

 the date of the present remarks." The following year, 1822-23, 

 William H. Blane, an English gentleman when a ^ "few miles from 

 the village of Hancock (Md),. ... put up a large 'gang' of wild 

 turkies that was crossing the road. These birds, which I afterwards 

 saw an immense number of in the Western States, are much larger 

 and handsomer, as well as of a more stately gait, than tame turkies. 

 Their colour is the same as that of the breed which we call the 

 dark Norfolk. Their plumage is particularly fine, and has a 

 beautiful gloss, very much resembling that of an English starling, 

 and which immediately distinguishes them from the domestic 

 varieties, even when dead. I may here mention that the turkey 

 originally came from America, and was unknown to the ancients. 

 Indeed it is now generally allowed by naturalists, that the Melea- 

 grides of the Romans were Guinea Fowls." 



In 1832, Flint writes of ^ "The wild turkey (as) a fine, large 

 bird, of brilliant blackish plumage. It breeds with the domestic 

 one; and when the latter is reared near the range of the former, 

 it is sure to be enticed into the woods by it. In some places they 

 are so numerous, as to be easily killed, beyond the wants of the 

 people! W^e have seen more than a hundred driven from one 



1 An Excursion through the United States and Canada during the years 1822-23 

 by an English Gentleman (William H. Blane) London, 1804, p. 85. 



2 Flint, Timothy. The History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley. Two 

 vols, (in one). Cincinnati, 1832. Vol. I, p. 73. 



