194 i'ARMING FOR LADIES. 



CHAPTER IX 



Origin and appellation of (he turkey — Price in the sixteenth 

 century — Description — Battles and courtship of the cock 

 — Laying and hatching of the hen — Eggs — Nests — Period 

 of incubation — Chicks ; mode of management and food — 

 Poults; and their treatment — Rearing and buying — 

 Grown turkeys ; and French manner of feeding — Flesh of 

 the cock and hen — Weight and age — Cramming. 



Our English appellation of turkey has 

 been improperly applied to this bird : but, 

 about the period of its first introduction into 

 Europe, it was customary to designate by 

 that name many foreign articles of luxury 

 or rarity which came through the Levant 

 from the East; as for instance, coffee, of 

 which, although not a grain of it is grown 

 in that country, yet the term is constantly 

 applied to the berry by grocers who want to 

 recommend it as superior. When first known, 

 the bird was indeed frequently confounded 

 with the Guinea-fowl, which it somewhat re- 



