14 TURKEY CULTURE. 



These, which vary in number from ten to twenty, are 

 smaller and more elongated than those of the domestic 

 turkey, and are of a dull-cream or a dirty-white color, 

 sprinkled with brownish-red spots. Audubon says that sev- 

 eral hens may lay their eggs in one nest, and hatch them 

 and raise the broods together. He found three hens sit- 

 ing on forty-two eggs in a single nest, and one was always 

 present to protect them. 



If the eggs are not destroyed, only one brood is raised 

 in a year ; but if they are, the female calls loudly for a 

 male, and when she is rejoined by one, both keep com- 

 pany until she is ready to commence laying again, when 

 she deserts him or drives him away, as he has the very 

 strongest penchant for destroying the eggs, in order to 

 keep her in his company. This forces her to build her 

 nest in the most secluded spot she can find, and to cover it 

 carefully with leaves or grass whenever she leaves it. We 

 present pictures showing how Wild turkeys are "called" 

 by hunters to them with whistles, and how they are 

 entrapped. When once enticed within this trap, they are 

 so confused as to be unable to find their way out. Fig 1 

 makes the trap plain. An inclined path or trench is ar- 

 ranged, which deepens gradually and ends inside the pen. 

 Corn is strewn over the bottom of the trench, the turkeys 

 follow along head down led by the corn until they are 

 inside, and then with heads up they see no way out. 



