70 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



turkeys no sooner perceive their enemy, than 

 they set off running at full speed, and with 

 such swiftness, that they leave the dog far be- 

 hind them ; he follows, nevertheless, and sen- 

 sible they must soon be tired, as they cannot 

 go full speed for any length of time, he at 

 last forces them to take shelter in a tree, 

 where they sit quite spent and fatigued till 

 the hunter comes up, and, with a long pole, 

 knocks them down, one after the other. 



This manner of suffering themselves to be 

 destroyed, argues no great instinct in the ani- 

 mal ; and, indeed, in their captive state they 

 do not appear to be possessed of much. They 

 seem a stupid, vain, querulous tribe, apt 

 enough to quarrel among themselves, yet 

 without any weapons to do each other an in- 

 jury. Every body knows the strange anti- 

 pathy the turkey-cock has to a red colour; 

 how he bristles, and, with his peculiar gob- 

 bling sound, flies to attack it. But there is 

 another method of increasing the animosity of 

 these birds against each other, which is often 

 practised by boys, when they have a mind for 

 a battle. This is no more than to smear over 

 the head of one of the turkeys with dirt, and 

 the rest run to attack it with all the speed 

 of impotent animosity ; nay, two of them, 

 thus disguised, will fight each other till 



in excellence, standing almost unrivalled for delicacy of 

 texture and agreeable sapidity. On this account it has 

 been eagerly sought by almost all nations, and has been 

 naturalized with astonishing rapidity throughout the 

 world, almost universally constituting a favourite ban- 

 quet dish. 



The turkey, belonging originally to the American con- 

 tinent, was necessarily unknown to the ancients, who, in 

 this as in a thousand other instances, were deficient in our 

 most common and essential articles of food. Readers 

 unacquainted with the fact may well be surprised to 

 learn, that, although the introduction of this bird into 

 Europe is comparatively modern, its origin has already 

 been lost sight of, and that eminent naturalists of the 

 last century, who lived so much nearer to the time of 

 its first appearance, have expressed great uncertainty 

 concerning its native country. Thus Belon, Aldrovan- 

 di, Gessner, Ray, &c. thought that it came originally 

 from Africa and the East Indies, and endeavoured to 

 recognise it in some of the domestic birds of the an- 

 cients. Belon and Aldrovandi supposed it to have been 

 mentioned by ancient authors, but they mistook for it 

 the Numida meleagris of Linne, which is actually an 

 African bird, now almost naturalized in America, even 

 in a wild state, so that it would be apparently more rea- 

 sonable for America to regard that bird as indigenous, 

 than that the old continent should lay claim to the tur- 

 key. In so soon losing sight of the origin of this bird, 

 we see a strong exemplification of the ungrateful dis- 

 position of man, who can durably treasure up the me- 

 mory of wrongs and injuries, but fails to recollect the 

 greatest benefits he has received. It would be loss of 

 time to combat the arguments advanced by authors, who 

 have deceived themselves in attempting to deprive 

 America of her just title to this bird, since they have 

 been fully refuted by the eloquent Buflbn ; but we may 

 here introduce a sketch of its progress from America 

 throughout Europe. 



they are almost suffocated with fatigue and 

 anger. 



But though so furious among themselves, 

 they are weak and cowardly against other 

 animals, though far less powerful than they. 

 The cock often makes the turkey keep at a 

 distance ; and they seldom venture to attack 

 him but with united force, when they rather 

 oppress him by their weight, than annoy him 

 by their arms. There is no animal, how con- 

 temptible soever, that will venture boldly to 

 face the turkey-cock, that he will not fly from. 

 On the contrary, with the insolence of a bully, 

 he pursues any thing that seems to fear him, 

 particularly lap-dogs and children, against 

 both which he seems to have a peculiar aver- 

 sion. On such occasions, after he has made 

 them scamper, he returns to his female train, 

 displays his plumage around, struts about the 

 yard, and gobbles out a note of self-approba- 

 tion. 



The female seems of a milder, gentler dis- 

 position. Rather querulous than bold, she 

 hunts about in quest of grain, and pursuit of 

 insects, being particularly delighted with the 

 eggs of ants and caterpillars. She lays 

 eighteen or twenty eggs, larger than those of 

 a hen, whitish, but marked with spots resem- 

 bling the freckles of the face. Her young are 



The first unquestionable description of the turkey was 

 written by Oviedo, in 1525, in the summary of his His- 

 tory of the Indies. This bird was sent from Mexico to 

 Spain early in the sixteenth century; from Spain it was 

 introduced into England in 1524. Turkeys were taken 

 to France in the reign of Francis the First, whence 

 they spread into Germany, Italy, &c. ; a few, however, 

 had been carried to the latter country by the Spaniards, 

 some years previously. The first turkey eaten in France 

 appears to have been served up at the wedding banquet 

 of Charles the Ninth, in the year 1570. Since that 

 period they have been bred with so much care, that, in 

 England, as we read in ancient chronicles, their rapid 

 increase rendered them attainable at country feasts, 

 where they were a much esteemed dish as early as 1585. 

 Europeans conveyed them to all their colonies, and thus 

 were they gradually introduced into Asia, Africa, and 

 even Oceanica. 



The French distinguished them by the name of Cog et 

 Poule d' Inde, (cock and hen from India,) because they 

 were natives of the West Indies. Subsequently, for the 

 sake of brevity, they called them Dindon, an appellation 

 which is yet retained. The English name is still worse, 

 as it conveys the false idea that the turkey originrte.d in 

 Asia, owing to the ridiculous habit, formerly prevalent, 

 of calling every foreign object by the name of Turk, 

 Indian, &c. 



Those who have not observed the turkey in its wild 

 state, have only seen its deteriorated progeny, which 

 are greatly inferior in size and beauty. So far from 

 having gained by the care of man, and the abundance of 

 food accessible in its state of domestication, this bird has 

 degenerated not only in Europe and Asia, but, what is 

 certainly extraordinary, even in its native country. 

 The domesticated turkey of America, accustomed as it 

 is to roam in the woods and open fields almost without 

 restraint, is in no respect superior to that of the Euro- 

 pean poultry yard. 



