126 THE TURKEY. 



become so familiar as to venture on the plantations, 

 and even approach so near the farm-houses as to en- 

 ter the stables and corn-cribs in search of food ; in 

 this way they pass the autumn, and part of the win- 

 ter. During this season, great numbers are killed 

 by the inhabitants, who preserve them in a frozen 

 state, in order to transport them to a distant mar- 

 ket. 



" Early in March they begin to pair ; and, for a 

 short time previous, the females separate from, and 

 shun their mates, though the latter pertinaciously 

 follow them, uttering their gobbling note. The sexes 

 roost apart, but at no great distance, so that, when 

 the female utters a call, every male within hearing 

 responds, rolling note after note, in the most rapid 

 succession ; not as when spreading the tail and strut- 

 ting near the hen, but in a voice resembling that of 

 the tame turkey, when he hears any unusual or fre- 

 quently repeated noise. Where the turkeys are nu- 

 merous, the woods, from one end to the other, some- 

 times for hundreds of miles, resound with this re- 

 markable voice of their wooing, uttered responsively 

 from their roosting places. This is continued for 

 about an hour ; and, on the rising of the sun, they 

 silently descend from their perches, and the males 

 begin to strut, for the purpose of winning the admi- 

 ration of their mates. 



" If the call be given from the ground, the males 

 in the vicinity fly towards the individual, and, whe- 

 ther they perceive her or not v erect arid spread their 



