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THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



TURKEYS. 



THE domestic turkey is a descendant of the wild turkey of North America, or of a 

 species of this race found in Mexico, and which differs from the former only by 

 white being mixed with the tail coverts and tail. It is more than three hundred and 

 fifty years since the turkey has been domesticated, yet, notwithstanding, it still retains many 

 of its wild habits, even under the most favorable conditions for counteracting them. North 

 and South America are the habitats of a separate species of this bird; and while that of the 

 latter, also known as the Ocellated Turkey, has been domesticated to but a limited extent, 

 the North American species has greatly increased and multiplied, having been domesticated 

 and bred in all parts of the civilized world. All turkeys, whether of the wild or domestic 



varieties, breed freely 

 one with the other, and 

 continue prolific, thus 

 proving conclusively 

 that they were origin 

 ally derived from the 

 same species. The first 

 writer who mentions 

 the American Turkey 

 is supposed to be Ovie- 

 do, who, in 1525, de 

 scribes them under the 

 name of peacocks, and 

 comments upon the 

 vast numbers found in 

 this country at that 

 time, their excellence 

 as an article of food, 

 etc. 



Lopez de Gomara 

 published a book in 

 1553, in which he de 

 scribes the wild turkey 

 of America, calling 

 them Gallapavo, and 



speaks of their flesh as being delicious. Pedro de Ciesa found them upon the Isthmus of 

 Darien, Dampier in Yucatan, while Buffon and other later travelers mentioned them as seen 

 in various portions of this continent. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico, they found 

 the turkey in a domesticated state, and it is supposed to have been domesticated for several 

 centuries before that period. This bird was introduced into England from America in 1524. 

 It is supposed that they were introduced into France about that time, and into Germany 

 from France about the year 1530. 



In describing the native wild turkey Audubon says: &quot; The grand size and beauty of this 

 fowl, and its value as a delicate and justly prized article of food, render this the most 

 interesting of the birds of the United States. The flesh is more delicate than that of the 

 domestic turkey, and the Western Indians so value it, that they call it the white man s dish.&quot; 

 The plumage of the North American Turkey is very brilliant, of a metallic bronze hue, 

 with a blending of colors such as black, green, bay, and brown. Like all of the feathered 



BRONZE TURKEY S. 



Bred by Gen. C. P. Mattocks, Portland, Me. 



