Wild Turkeys 263 



hazel, and full of intelligence and suspicion . . . 

 Gobblers, when full grown, are about four feet 

 high and weigh, according to the section of the 

 country they are taken in, from 15 to 20 pounds 

 each. They do not get their full growth until the 

 end of the third year, and increase in weight and 

 beauty for several years after that. Gobblers 

 weighing 36 and 40 pounds have often been shot. 

 . . . Wild gobblers mate later and the hens lay 

 later than domestic turkeys. The flesh of wild 

 birds is of excellent flavor and is more delicate 

 and juicy than that of domestic turkeys." * 



The Ehode Island Experiment Station speaks 

 as follows of wild turkey crosses :f "Where 

 wild turkeys are plenty, crosses between wild and 

 domestic birds frequently occur without design on 

 the part of the owner of the latter. Scores of 

 cases are recorded where a wild gobbler from the 

 woods has taken possession of a flock of common 

 turkeys, sometimes after first battling with and 

 killing the domestic gobbler. The results of such 

 a cross in almost every ca^e have been so satis- 

 factory that such matings are much desired by 

 turkey raisers in those sections, and young wild 

 birds are caught for this purpose and brought up 

 with common young turkeys. Very often nests 

 of wild turkey eggs are found in the woods and 



* Bulletin 25, Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station, p. 116. 

 tSarae, p. 119. 



