THE TURKEY. 101 



keep up witli them. They have then a dang- 

 ling and straggling way of running, which, 

 awkward as it may seem, enables them to out- 

 strip any other animal. I have often, when 

 on a good horse, been obliged to abandon the 

 attempt to put them up, after following them 

 for several hours. This habit of running in 

 rainy or very damp weather of any kind is not 

 peculiar to the wild turkey, but is common to 

 all gallinaceous birds. In America, the dif- 

 ferent species of grouse exhibit the same 

 tendency." 



During the breeding season, the males may 

 be allured within gun-shot by imitating the 

 call note of the female. It is done by forcibly 

 drawing the air through one of the wing 

 bones of a turkey, but it requires great 

 practice, for the quick ear of the male im- 

 mediately detects the sliglitest error of into- 

 nation, and immediately retreats. 



The size of the wild turkey and the quality 

 of the flesh vary according to abundance or 

 scarcity of food. In districts where food is 

 plentiful, the wild turkey is said to be superior 

 to the tame bird for the table, and is in the 

 highest season late in the autumn. In Mexico, 

 however, the wild turkey, according to Her- 



