THE TURKEY. 103 



selves, and higher than the tame birds, gene- 

 rally on the top of some tree or of the house. 

 They were also more readily alarmed : on the 

 approach of a dog, they would fly off and seek 

 safety in the nearest woods. On an occasion 

 of this kind, one of them flew across the Sus- 

 quehanna, and the owner was apprehensive 

 of losing it ; in order to recover it, he sent a 

 boy with a tame turkey, which was released 

 at the place where the fugitive had alighted. 

 This plan was successful, they soon joined 

 company, and the tame bird induced his com- 

 panion to return home. Mr. Bloom remarked 

 that the wild turkey will thrive more and keep 

 in better condition than the tame on the same 

 quantity of food." C. L. Bonaparte. 



The author last quoted states that some 

 domesticated turkeys of a very superior me- 

 tallic tint are sold in the Philadelphia and 

 New York markets as wild ones : many of 

 these require a practised eye to distinguish 

 their true character, but they are always rather 

 less brilliant, and have a broad whitish band 

 at the top of the tail-coverts, and another at 

 the top of the tail itself, which immediately 

 betrays them : the real wild birds are destitute 



