G A L L I N I D JE. 



within twenty paces, but ran off twenty or thirty 

 yards with her tail expanded, when, assuming a stately 

 gait, she paused on every step, occasionally uttering 

 a chuck. They seldom abandon their nests on ac- 

 count of being discovered by a man, but should a 

 snake, or any other animal, suck one of the eggs, the 

 parent leaves them altogether. If the eggs be re- 

 moved, she again seeks the male and recommences 

 laying, though otherwise she lays but one nest of 

 eggs during the season. Several turkey hens some- 

 times associate, perhaps for mutual safety, deposit 

 their eggs in the same nest, and rear their broods 

 together. 



" When the process of incubation is ended, and the 

 mother is about to retire from the nest with her young 

 brood, she shakes herself violently, picks and adjusts 

 the feathers about the belly, and assumes a different 

 d ; her eyes are alternately inclined obliquely 

 upwards and sideways , she stretches forth her neck, 

 in every direction, to discover birds of prey or other 

 enemies ; her wings are partially spread, and she 

 softly chucks to keep her tender offspring close to 

 her side. They proceed slowly, and, as the hatching 

 generally occurs in the afternoon, they sometimes 

 return to pass the first night in the nest. While very 

 young, the mother leads them to elevated dry places, 

 as if aware that humidity during the first few days of 

 their life would be very dangerous to them, they 

 having then no other protection than a delicate, soft, 

 hairy down. In very rainy seasons wild turkeys are 

 scarce, because, when completely wetted, the young 

 rarely survive. At the expiration of about two weeks 

 the young leave the ground on which they had pre- 

 viously reposed at night under the female, and follow 

 her to some low large branch of a tree, where they 

 nestle under the broadly curved wings of their 

 vigilant and fostering parent. The time then ap- 

 proaches in which they seek the open ground or 

 prairie land, during the day, in search of strawberries 

 fmd subsequently of dewberries, blackberries, and 

 grasshoppers ; thus securing a plentiful food, and 

 enjoying the influence of the genial sun. They fre- 

 quently dust themselves in shallow cavities of the soil 

 or on anthills, in order to clean off the loose skin of 

 their growing feathers, and rid themselves of ticks 

 and other vermin. The young turkeys now grow 

 rapidly, and in the month of August, when several 

 broods (lock together, and arc led by their mothers 

 to the forest, they are stout and quite able to secure 

 es from the unexpected attacks of wolves, 

 , lyuxe?, and even cougars, by rising quickly 

 from the ground, aided by their strong legs, and 

 hing with ease the upper limbs of the tallest tree, 

 Amongst the numerous enemies of the wild turkey, 

 the most dreaded are the large diurnal and nocturnal 

 Is of prey, and the lynx (Felis nifa), who sucks 

 their eggs, and is extremely expert at seizing both 

 parent and young : he follows them for some distance 

 in order to ascertain their course, and then, making 

 a rapid circular movement, places himself in ambush 

 before them, and waits until, by a single bound, he 

 can fasten on his victim." 



As already mentioned, the turkey was introduced 

 into England in the early part of the sixteenth cen- 

 tury. It came first from Mexico to Spain, and then 

 fioin Spain to England in 1524, and it soon spread 

 over the other countries of Europe, at first as curiosi- 

 ties, but afterwards as articles of food. Who was 

 the first to feed on a turkey in the British islands has 



595 



not been recorded, but in France it was first served 

 up at the nuptial feast of Charles IX. in 1570, about 

 forty years after its first introduction into that country. 

 It is probable that by this time the numbers had con- 

 siderably augmented ; and, though the fact is not esta- 

 blished by evidence, it is probable that the general 

 stock of European turkeys are from those that came 

 from Mexico, and their 'being inferior in Mexico to 

 what they are in North America, that is in the valley 

 of the Mississippi, may in part account for the decided 

 inferiority of the European ones, which applies to 

 quality, and still more to weight. Wild turkeys, 

 weighing between twenty and thirty pounds, are 

 mentioned as not being unfrequent ; while we believe 



those of Europe do not exceed the half of that weight. 



It is worthy of remark, as showing the general 

 difference between the physical condition of the two 

 continents, and the adaptation of its own natural pro- 

 ductions to each, that, while the cock of the Indian 

 jungles, and the pheasants and other gallinidse of the 

 warmer countries of south-eastern Asia, which have 

 been introduced into our climates, have not deterio- 

 rated it, but have been improved by care, at least in 

 some of the species, the turkey, which is a native of 

 temperate climates in America, and even of climates 

 which have their winter as severe as it is in Lapland, 

 should not have stood the change so well. It seems, 

 however, that the turkey is more a bird of wild nature 

 than the gallinidas of the south-east ; for even in the 

 United States those which are kept in a domesticated 

 state are inferior to the wild ones, both in size and in 

 beauty of plumage. In some parts of that country, 

 where wild ones are still to be met with in the neigh- 

 bood, we believe it is customary to improve the breed 

 by procuring the eggs of the wild ones, and hatching 

 them under the domestic ; and as a turkey hen may, 

 by proper management, be made to continue sitting 

 until she has hatched two broods or even three, one 

 hen may, if the eggs can be procured, hatch a num- 

 ber of those half wild ones in the course of one sea- 

 son, if they are removed and reared by hand as soon 

 as they are hatched. 



In this country the rearing of turkeys requires 

 more care than that of any other bird in the poultry 

 yard ; and some attention is necessary in order to 

 preserve the eggs. In Europe these are laid in the 

 spring, and are generally from fourteen to eighteen 

 in number ; white is the general colour, but freckled 

 with yellow and reddish. The hens naturally seek 

 obscure places, where their eggs may be safe from 

 the male bird, as he is very prone to destroy them. 

 The hen also is sometimes known to destroy her own 

 eggs, although in general she is a very persevering 

 sitter. It appears, however, from various accounts, 

 and among the rest, from an anecdote related in the 

 Memoirs of the Academy of Stockholm, that the 

 cock turkey is not incapable of performing the duties 

 of a nurse. M. Carlson remarks on this occasion, 

 that the total neglect of their young, ascribed to male 

 birds that associate with a plurality of females, is not 

 general. Geese are of this description, and yet the 

 gander protects the young with the greatest care. 

 But the instance of a turkey cock sitting on eggs 

 seems the more singular, because both in a wild and 

 tame state the males are accustomed to destroy the 

 nests of the females, in order that they may have 

 them sooner free for pairing ; and, for this reason, 

 the cock is carefully separated from her while she is 

 hatching. In some temperate and warm countries 

 P P2 



