THE FLIGHT OF THE WILD TURKEY. 397 



to pass the night; but this once discovered, laid him 

 naked to his enemies. * The mere sound of the firing 

 was rarely sufficient to cause them to start off, unless 

 they had been much shot at. Frank Forrester also 

 mentions another plan of finding them by the sounds 

 of their " gobbling " in the early dawn. " Wild 

 turkeys (he says) often begin ' gobbling,' a little before 

 the break of day ; but usually continue on their 

 roosts, till broad daylight." The hunter can therefore 

 frequently manage to cautiously creep up to the tree 

 upon which they are perched, and secure some of them. 

 This noisy confabulation in the early morning, aifords 

 the easiest way of discovering the locality where they 

 roost, while the droppings under the trees serve to 

 indentify the exact spot with certainty; but in former 

 days when turkeys were plentiful, the " moonlighting 

 plan " was supposed to be the best time for a gunner 

 to choose for bringing most birds to bag as they 

 are apt to fly off when alarmed after daybreak. 



The wild turkey, we may add, is a bad flyer, but 

 like the pheasant, a first-rate runner, and it requires 

 a good horse, or a dog, to overtake it. If caught 

 away from cover, however, and the hunter gets between 

 the turkey and the timber, so that it can be headed 

 away from the trees, it may occasionally be ridden 

 down, as each of its flights gets shorter, and it soon 

 becomes tired out. The Indians assured us that 

 turkeys frequently get lost in attempting to cross 

 great rivers, by reason of their short flight. When 

 about to attempt such a crossing, their gobblings may 

 generally be heard afar for some time previously, as 

 they fly up to the tops of the highest trees, to get 



* The habits of the peacock, in countries where it is indigenous, are similar. 



