THE TURKEY. 123 



beautiful Illustrations ; and we have to ask his for- 

 giveness for having done so without previously ob- 

 taining his permission. The average weight of a 

 hen is about 9 Ib. ; but in strawberry time they 

 sometimes reach 131b. and are so fat as to burst 

 open when falling, after being shot. In length, the 

 female is only about 3 feet 4 inches. The head 

 and neck are not so naked, and there is no trace 

 of spurs upon the legs. The general shade of the 

 plumage is of a grayer tint, each feather having a 

 metallic band, less brilliant than that of the male, 

 and is then tipped with a blackish bar, and a grayish 

 terminal fringe. 



We shall now introduce the account of their 

 manners fron the Prince of Musignano's continua- 

 tion. 



" The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in 

 parties, numbering from ten to a hundred, and seek 

 their food apart from the females ; whilst the latter 

 either move about singly with their young, then 

 nearly two-thirds grown, or, in company with other 

 females and their families, form troops, sometimes 

 consisting of seventy or eighty individuals, all of 

 which are intent on avoiding the old males, who, 

 whenever opportunity offers, attack and destroy the 

 young, by repeated blows on the skull. All parties, 

 however, travel in the same direction, and on foo^ 

 unless they are compelled to seek their individua^ 

 safety by flying from the hunter's dog, or their march 

 is impeded by a large river. When about to cross 



