34 TURKEY CULTURE. 



clack. These birds are popular in southern New Eng- 

 land, where they are extensively grown for the city mar- 

 kets. They are hardy and as easily reared as the Mam- 

 moth Bronze. The Narragansetts have thick set, plump 

 bodies, and short legs, are quick growers, mature early, 

 and do not roam as far from home as Bronze turkeys. 



THE BKUSH TXJKKEY. 



BY FRANKLANE I*. SEWELL. 



In the zoological gardens of London, the Brush turkey 

 has made its nest, as it does in its wild state, by construct 

 ing a crude mound of earth, leaves, grass, sand, and other 

 materials that 'were at hand, which, by fermentation, 

 becomes heated. The eggs are deposited therein. In- 

 stead of a mother turkey on her nest, the picture of pa- 

 tience, is to be seen the female in apparent carelessness 

 strolling about the inclosure. The cock seems the most 

 interested, and by far the busier one of the pair. Not 

 a sign of herbage, not even a straw, is to be seen on the 

 ground of their runway, except what is contained in the 

 mound. The male bird, for it is he who constructs the 

 mound nest and keeps it constantly in correct condition, 

 has apparently worn and torn every bit of herbage from 

 the ground, in his dragging and scratching materials 

 toward the huge pile, which is about five feet high and 

 eight or more feet across the base. 



While I stood sketching these strange birds, the male 

 nervously ran to and from the mound, once in a while 

 scratching the materials at the base towards the top, and 

 several times I saw him peck at and drive the female 

 from the place, as if in fear she might disturb something. 

 The superintendent of the gardens, in a very interesting 

 account of the Brush turkey, says that when the young are 

 hatched they creep from the mound, stout and strong, 

 ready to care for themselves, and on the second or third 

 day are capable of flight; that they are quite unnoticed by 



