136 THE TURKEY. 



first, he may secure Dearly the whole flock, neither 

 the presence of the hunter, nor the report of his gun, 

 intimidating the turkeys, although the appearance of 

 a single owl would be sufficient to alarm the whole 

 troop : the dropping of their companions from their 

 sides excites nothing but a buzzing noise, which 

 seems more expressive of surprise than fright. This 

 fancied security or heedlessness of danger, while at 

 roost, is characteristic of all the gallinaceous birds of 

 North America. 



" The more common mode of taking turkeys is 

 by means of pens, constructed with logs, covered in 

 at top, and with a passage in the earth under one 

 side of it, just large enough to admit an individual 

 when stooping. The ground chosen for this purpose 

 is generally sloping, and the passage is cut on the 

 lower side, widening outwards. These preparations 

 being completed, Indian corn is strewed for some 

 distance around the pen, to entice the flock, which, 

 picking up the grain, is gradually led towards the 

 passage, and thence into the enclosure, where a suf- 

 ficient quantity of corn is spread to occupy the leader 

 until the greater part of the turkeys have entered. 

 When they raise their heads and discover that they 

 are prisoners, all their exertions to escape are di- 

 rected upwards and against the sides of the pen, not 

 having sagacity enough to stoop sufficiently low to 

 pass out by the way they entered, and thus they be- 

 come an easy prey, not only to the experienced hun- 

 ter, but even to the boys on the frontier settlements. 



