122 THE TURKEY. 



the average size, and the bird was a remarkably fine 

 specimen. The extraordinary accounts of the great 

 weight and size of the Wild Turkey have been only 

 the licensed tales of travellers, heightened by the 

 idea, that a New World must produce every thing on 

 a scale proportioned to its extent *. Mr Audubon 

 says, that from 15 Ib. to 18 Ib. may be a fair esti- 

 mate of their average weight ; and he only once saw 

 one in the Louisville market which weighed 36 Ib. : 

 the tuft of hair on the breast of this bird measured 

 upwards of a foot. Bonaparte confirms this ac- 

 count, but says that birds of 30 Ib. are not rare, and 

 had ascertained the existence of some which weigh- 

 ed 40 Ib. The male Turkey may be said to be 

 adult at the third year though it increases in both 

 beauty and weight for some seasons afterwards. 

 Upon the approach of the first winter, the bunch 

 of hair upon the breast begins to appear: at the 

 commencement of the second, it is from three to 

 four inches in length, and the caruncules about the 

 head and neck have become large, and have as- 

 sumed their deep and livid hue ; by the third win- 

 ter, all these marks of maturity have nearly reached 

 their greatest, development. 



The Female which we have represented on our 

 Plate II., has been copied from Mr Audubon* 



* Temminck gives the weight from 20 Ib. to 80 Ib. Pi$ 

 et Gall. ii. 379. Clayton, in his Account of Virginia, 50 Ib, 

 even 60 Ib. 





