362 THE TURKEY. 



the Bustard breed and the Dutch copper-coloured,) which, 

 however, is as much cultivated in Norfolk as the old local 

 stock, and birds of which kind often pass for true Norfolks, 

 because they have been procured from that county. The real 

 Norfolk Turkey is more hardy, but less ornamental than the 

 others, and of smaller size. It is entirely black, except the 

 red skin about the head, and a brownish tip to the feathers of 

 the tail and some of those of the back. This gives the bird 

 a rusty appearance, like an old piece of well-worn cotton velvet. 

 The Cambridge sort, when black, have a beautifully shining 

 bluish tinge, like a well-polished boot. The Chicks of the 

 Norfolks are black, with occasionally white patches about the 

 head; those of the Cambridge variety are mottled all over 

 with brownish gray, and are of taller and slenderer proportions. 

 The plumage of the Cambridge breed varies very much ; some- 

 times it is entirely made up of shades of reddish brown and 

 gray, when it is called the Bustard breed ; sometimes of gray, 

 black, and white, but frequently it approaches very nearly to 

 what we see figured as the wild bird. Owing to the early age 

 at which our birds are mostly killed, the tuft on the breast of 

 the Hen is seldom so conspicuous as is represented in the Hen 

 of the Wild Turkey, in the "Naturalist's Library," copied 

 from Audubon. 



The pure White Turkeys are very elegant creatures, and 

 though the most tender of all to rear, are not so in any thing 

 like the same degree as the White Pea Fowl. It is well known 

 that most birds, wild as well as tame, occasionally produce 

 perfectly white individuals, of more delicate constitution than 

 their parents. We cannot doubt that the selection and pairing 

 of such, is the way in which the breed of White Turkeys has 

 been established and kept up. However, with all care they 

 will now and then produce speckled birds, and so show a 

 tendency to return to the normal plumage. It is remarkable, 

 that in specimens which are else snow-white, the tuft on the 



