l6 TURKEYS AND PHEASANTS. 



river, however, where the woods disappear beyond the conflu- 

 ence of the Platte, the Turkey no longer appears ; and the 

 feathers of the wings, for the purpose of pluming arrows, form 

 an article of small commerce between the other natives and 

 their Western countrymen. For a thousand miles up the 

 Arkansas and Red River, in the wooded alluvial lands, they 

 are not uncommon. They are met with in small numbers in 

 Tennessee, Alabama, and West Florida, and are also abundant 

 in Texas ; but none have been found in the Rocky Mountains 

 or to the westward of them. From the Atlantic States gener- 

 ally they are now nearly extirpated. According to Audubon, a 

 few of these valuable birds are yet found in the States of New 

 York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. 



The Wild Turkey is neither gregarious nor migratory, but 

 from the necessity of wandering after food ; it is otherwise 

 resident throughout the whole of the vast region it inhabits, 

 including the greatest diversity of climate, and it is proUfic in 

 proportion to its natural resources ; so that while in the United 

 States and Canada it only breeds once in the year, in Jamaica 

 and the other West India islands it is said to raise two or 

 three broods in the same period. In quest of mast, these 

 birds therefore spread themselves through the country and 

 insensibly assemble in considerable numbers to the district 

 where their food abounds. These movements are observed 

 to take place early in October. The males, or gobblers, as 

 they are often called, from their note, are now seen apart 

 from the other sex in companies varying from ten to a hun- 

 dred. The females move singly, or accompanied by their 

 almost independent brood, who all at first assiduously shun the 

 persecuting society of the selfish male. Yet after a while, 

 when their food proves abundant, separate mixed flocks of all 

 ages and sexes often promiscuously join in the bounteous 

 repast. Their migration — very unlike that of the rapid Pigeons 

 — is made almost entirely on foot until their progress is perhaps 

 arrested by a river. Their speed, however, is very consider- 

 able, and when surprised they more commonly trust to their 

 legs than their wings, running nearly with the velocity of a 



