THE WILD TURKEY. 7 



of hens about him. The young gobblers meekly stay with 

 the flock until it breaks up for nesting; but any old gob- 

 blers in the flock leave it at once if they discover they 

 cannot rule, and live in solitude, excepting that, attracted 

 by his beauty, or perchance out of pity, or on account of 

 some dislike for the ruling gobbler, some hen consorts 

 with the banished bird, and shares his solitude. Again, 

 two or three young gobblers will be found together, living 

 in peace and plenty during the pleasant summer months. 

 The nests are made exactly as the domesticated turkey's, 

 and the number of eggs laid by one hen ranges from eight 

 or nine to 18 or 20. The eggs are more thickly spotted 

 with reddish-brown dots and blotches than those of tame 

 turkeys or of all other than Bronze turkeys. They are not 

 as large as domestic turkeys' eggs, yet a nest is occasion- 

 ally found with eggs as large as White Holland eggs. If 

 the eggs are taken from the nest and hatched under a do- 

 mestic turkey, the young poults will run off tc the forest 

 as soon as hatched. This experiment in domestication 

 was frequently tried by an uncle of the writer, who passed 

 his youthful days in the midst of the finest Wild turkey 

 county in Pennsylvania. 



The little poults are very hardy, and, like quail and 

 grouse, frequently mature without the loss of a single bird. 

 The mother turkey takes most excellent care of her family, 

 leading them slowly and carefully about the woods, turn- 

 ing over the dead leaves in search of worms, etc, and find- 

 ing the wild berries in season, where the poults soon fill 

 their little crops. 



In late summer or autumn, several hens and their broods 

 frequently go in one flock, and then, with some old gob- 

 bler as chief, whose plumage glistens like a leaf of gold, 

 and emeralds, and garnets, and all the hues of the rain- 

 bow, they range the hills, plains, mountains and valleys 

 in search of food. It is astonishing to the young hunter 

 what an extended amount of territory a flock will travel 



