THE TURKEY. 



67 



the new continent, and that it was not 

 brought into Europe till the discovery of that 

 part of the world. 



Those who contend for the latter opinion 

 very truly observe, that among all the descrip- 

 tions we have of eastern birds, that of the tur- 

 key is not to be found ; while on the contrary, 

 it is very well known in the new continent, 

 where it runs wild about the woods. It is said 

 by them to have been first seen in France in 

 the reign of Francis I. and in England in that 

 of Henry VIII. which is about the time when 

 Mexico was first conquered by Spain. On 

 the other hand it is asserted, that the turkey, 

 so far from being unknown in Europe before 

 that time, was known even to the ancients ; 

 and that JElian has given a pretty just de- 

 scription of it. They allege, that its very 

 name implies its having been brought from 

 some part of the east ; and that it is found 

 among other dainties served up to the tables 

 of the great, before that time among ourselves. 

 But what they pretend to be the strongest 

 proof is, that though the wild turkey be so nu- 

 merous in America, yet the natives cannot 

 contrive to tame it ; and though hatched in 

 the ordinary manner, nothing can render it 

 domestic. In this diversity of opinions, per- 

 haps it is best to suspend assent till more 

 lights are thrown on the subject: however, 

 I am inclined to concur with the former 

 opinion. 



With us, when young, it is one of the 

 tenderest of all birds ; yet, in its wild state, it 

 is found in great plenty in the forests of Ca- 

 nada, that are covered with snow above three 

 parts of the year. In the natural woods they 

 are found much larger than in their state of 

 domestic captivity. They are much more 

 beautiful also, their feathers being of a dark 

 gray, bordered at the edges with a bright gold 

 colour. 1 These the savages of the country 



1 Prince Charles Lucian Bonaparte, in his American 

 Ornithology, has give a very full and interesting ac- 

 count of the wild turkey: We extract it here with 

 some abridgment. 



The native country of the wild turkey extends from 

 the north-western territory of the United States to the 

 Isthmus of Panama, south of which it is not to be found, 

 notwithstanding the statements of authors, who have 

 mistaken the curassovv for it. In Canada, and the now 

 densely peopled parts of the United States, wild turkeys 

 were formerly very abundant ; but, like the Indian and 

 buffalo, they have been compelled to yield to the destruc- 

 tive ingenuity of the white settlers, often wantonly exer- 

 cised, and seek refuge in the remotest parts of the in- 

 terior. Although they relinquish their native soil with 

 slow and reluctant steps, yet such is the rapidity with 

 which settlements are extended and condensed over the 

 surface of this country, that we may anticipate a day, 

 at no distant period, when the hunter will seek the wild 

 turkey in vain. 



The wild turkeys do not confine themselves to any 

 particular food; they eat maize, all sorts of berries, 



weave into cloaks to adorn their persons, and 

 fashion into fans and umbrellas, but never 

 once think of taking into keeping animals 

 that the woods furnish them with in sufficient 



fruits, grasses, beetles; and even tadpoles, young frogs, 

 and lizards, are occasionally found in their crops; but 

 where the pecan nut is plenty, they prefer that fruit to 

 any other nourishment ; their more general predilection 

 is, however, for the acorn, on which they rapidly fatten. 

 When an unusually profuse crop of acorns is produced 

 in a particular section of country, great numbers of tur- 

 keys are enticed from their ordinary haunts in the sur- 

 rounding districts. About the beginning of October, 

 while the mast still remains on the trees, they assemble 

 in flocks, and direct their course to the rich bottom 

 lands. At this season they are observed in great num- 

 bers on the Ohio and Mississippi. The time of this 

 irruption is known to the Indians by the name of the 

 turkey month. 



The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in par- 

 ties, numbering from ten to a hundred, and seek their 

 food apart from the females; whilst the latter either 

 move about singly with their young, then nearly two- 

 thirds grown, or, in company with other females and 

 their families, form troops, sometimes consisting of 

 seventy or eighty individuals, all of whom are intent on 

 avoiding the old males, who, whenever opportunity 

 offers, attack and destroy the young, by repeated blows 

 on the skull. All parties, however, travel in the same 

 direction, and on foot, unless they are compelled to seek 

 their individual safety by flying from the hunter's dog, 

 or their march is impeded by a large river. When 

 about to cross a river, they select the highest eminences, 

 that their flight may be the more certain; and here they 

 sometimes remain for a day or more, as if for the pur- 

 pose of consultation, or to be duly prepared for so hazard- 

 ous a voyage. During this time the males gobble obstre- 

 perously, and strut with extraordinary importance, as if 

 they would animate their companions, and inspire them 

 with the utmost degree of hardihood ; the females and 

 young also assume much of the pompous air of the 

 males, the former spreading their tails, and moving 

 silently around. At length the assembled multitude 

 mount to the tops of the highest trees, whence, at a 

 signal note from a leader, the whole together wing their 

 way towards the opposite shore. All the old and fat 

 ones cross without difficulty, even when the river ex- 

 ceeds a mile in width ; but the young, meagre, and 

 weak, frequently fall short of the desired landing, and 

 are forced to swim for their lives; this they do dexter- 

 ously enough, spreading their tails for a support, closing 

 their wings to the body, stretching the neck forwards, 

 and striking out quickly and forcibly with their legs. If, 

 in thus endeavouring to regain the land, they approach 

 an elevated or inaccessible bank, their exertions are re- 

 mitted, they resign themselves to the stream for a short 

 time, in order to gain strength, and then, with one vio- 

 lent eflbrt, escape from the water. But in this attempt 

 all are not successful ; some of the weaker, as they can- 

 not rise sufficiently high in air to clear the bank, fall 

 again and again into the water, and thus miserably 

 perish. Immediately after the turkeys have succeeded 

 in crossing a river, they for some time ramble about 

 without any apparent unanimity of purpose, and a great 

 many are destroyed by the hunters, although they are 

 then least valuable. 



When the turkeys have arrived in their land of abun- 

 dance, they disperse in small flocks, composed of indi- 

 viduals of all sexes and ages intermingled, who devour 

 all the mast as they advance: this occurs about the 

 middle of November. It has been observed, that, after 

 these long journeys, the turkeys become so familiar as 

 to venture on the plantations, and even approach so near 



