470 Wright, Early Records of the Wild Turkey. [oct. 



drops, and set up a timorous cry, as he falls." In Canada (1844) 

 Godley reports that ^ " Wild turkeys are tracked in the snow, and 

 stalked like deer with rifles ; they show excellent sport, but are very 

 scarce in our provinces." When along the Alleghany River, Pa. 

 (1807), Christian Schultz relies on an air gun.^ "It frequently 

 happens that after shooting one from a tree, you will find it busted 

 by falling on the ground; they are remarkably tame, and if alarmed, 

 generally take to a tree, especially if disturbed by a dog. I found 

 my air gun of great use in shooting this game, for if there were five 

 or six of them in one tree, I was always sure of bringing them all 

 down," and at Cedar Bluffs on the Mississippi, he praises this 

 weapon as follows: "my air gun which had been charged a few 

 hours before for the purpose of shooting at a flock of wild turkeys, 

 was worth a dozen common guns at a moderate distance." 



Quite frequently we find the wild turkey is hunted on horseback. 

 Anburey, on a journey to Richmond, Va., overtakes^ "a flock of 

 wild turkeys ; a couple of spaniels we had with us pursued them, and 

 it is incredible how swift they run, as neither of us, though we gal- 

 loped our horses, could overtake them, although they run near two 

 hundred yards before they took flight; they appeared considerably 

 larger than ours, and I am told, sometimes weigh thirty or forty 

 pouftds each." In the southwestern country 1849, Marcy reports 

 one chase by horses in this manner r"* A hunter " discovered a turkey 

 upon the prairie, and putting spurs to his horse started after him 

 at full speed. I thought this a novel method of hunting wild tur- 

 keys, and looked on the chase with a good deal of interest, partic- 

 ularly as I knew that the quality of our supper depended upon the 

 result. The turkey was about a half a mile ahead at the start, and 

 made good running for a short time, but soon found it necessary to 

 resort to flight. The hunter followed on till the turkey alighted 



1 Godley, John Robert. Letters from America. 2 vols. London, 1844. 

 Vol. I., p. 247. 



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

 York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, etc. N. Y. 2 vols. 

 Vol. I, p. 122, 123; II, p. 4. 



' Anbvirey, Thomas. Travels through the Interior Parts of America in a Series 

 of Letters. 2 vols. London, 1789. Vol. II, p. 342. 



< Report of Capt. R. B. Marcy's Route from Fort Smith to Santa Fe. 31st 

 Congress, 1st Session, U. S. Senate, Ex. Doc. No. 64. July 24, 1850. Washing- 

 ton, D. C. p. 176. 



