THE WILD TURKEY. 113 



at the mouth of Minnecadusa Creek, the advance guard to establish the new 

 post of Fort Niobrara. This was then a wild, uninhabited country, covered 

 with oak timber and full of large game. Turkeys were quite numerous, and 

 several were killed near camp. It is generally conceded that this is the most 

 wary of all game birds, yet an incident which occurred in this camp would 

 seem to prove that the all-controlling power of animal appetite was sufficient 

 to overcome natural caution. 



"When the camp was first established, some corn was scattered at one 

 cud, in the brush. My tent was pitched about 30 yards from this spot, and it 

 was reported that every morning and evening a Turkey came here to feed. It 

 was certainly the first grain the bird had seen, and the new food proved an 

 irresistible attraction. Just before sundown, while I was sitting in the tent, it 

 came from the brush and began feeding in plain sight of several persons, amidst 

 all the noise of a large camp. I watched it for some time, and then, without 

 leaving the tent, 'collected' it, not, however this time, for the 'Smithsonian' as 

 the mess clamored loudly for roast turkey without arsenic." 



Dr. T. E. Wilcox, U. S. Army, who is now stationed at Fort Niobrara, 

 Nebraska, informs me that he finds abundant and reliable testimony that the 

 Wild Turkey was found there a few years ago and that this point marked the 

 most western limit of its range. None occur there now. 



Dr. William L. Ralph, of Utica, New York, writes me: "Fifteen years 

 ago I found the Wild Turkey abundant in most parts of Florida, north of 

 Lake Okeechobee, with perhaps the exception of the Indian River region, but 

 they have gradually decreased in numbers since then, and though still common 

 in places where the country is wild and unsettled, they are rapidly disappear- 

 ing from those parts, in the vicinity of villages and navigable waters. 



"At that time they would frequent the vicinity of dwellings, and where 

 they were not molested would become quite tame. I have often seen them in 

 company with domestic fowls, and on one occasion, where a wild gobbler asso- 

 ciated with some tame hen Turkeys, the chicks that were hatched from their 

 eggs showed their wild blood plainly, both in color and actions. I watched 

 this gobbler with a great deal of interest at the times when the fowls were 

 being fed. At first, when any one was near, he would only come to the edge 

 of some bushes, about 40 yards away, but each succeeding day he came a 

 little nearer, until at last he became almost as tame as the domestic birds, and 

 would feed unconcernedly within a few feet of a person. 



"One can hardly believe that the Wild Turkeys of to-day are of the same 

 species as those of fifteen or twenty years ago. Then they were rather stupid 

 birds, which it did not require much skill to shoot, but now I do not know of 

 a game bird or mammal more alert or more difficult to approach. Formerly, I 

 have often, as they were sitting in trees on the banks of some stream, passed 

 very near them, both in rowboats and in steamers, without causing them to 

 fly, and I once, with a party of friends, ran a small steamer within 20 yards of 

 a flock, which did not take wing until several shots had been fired at them. 

 26957 Bull. 1 8 



