THE TURKEY. 85 



gentlemen, whose laiigliter was irrepressible, 

 that these birds were common in India and 

 England, the people were greatly surprised. 

 The birds, it appeared, had escaped from a 

 vessel which had been wrecked in the gulf 

 of Persia, and had gradually made their way 

 up the country. 



We will not attempt to describe the turkey, 

 for no one is unacquainted with its charac- 

 teristics. It is certainly one of the ornaments 

 of the farm-yard ; the adult male in particular 

 is a noble bird, and shows to great advantage, 

 when with haughty port and expanded tail he 

 struts about, uttering his guttural " Arabic." 

 The carunculated skin of the head and neck 

 changes from pale flesh colour to purple, and 

 from purple to crimson, and ever and anon 

 a smart jar with the wings as he draws them 

 on the ground produces a whirring sound dis- 

 tinctly audible. 



The male turkey is distinguished by short 

 blunt spurs, and a tuft of long coarse black 

 hair pendant from the lower part of the neck. 

 The carunculated skin of the head and neck is 

 more developed in the male than in the female, 

 whom he much exceeds in size. The general 

 plumage has a metallic lustre. In temper the 



