THE TURKEY 71 



period called the red. It no longer needs the shelter 

 of the poultry-house at night. However cold it may 

 be, it sleeps in the open air, roosting on the branches 

 of some dead tree or on a perch fixed to the wall. 

 Vainly does the north wind whistle and the frost nip ; 

 the turkey rests peacefully in the manner of its fel- 

 lows in the woods of America, and without fear lest a 

 snow-owl come to disturb its slumbers and compel 

 it to spread its tail quickly and make a breastplate 

 against the marauder's talons. 



"I will finish this story with a few words on a cu- 

 rious method of fattening used in certain countries, 

 especially in Provence, Morvan, and Flanders. 

 Over and above the usual food that fattening birds 

 eat voluntarily, they force both the gobbler and the 

 hen to swallow whole nuts. ' ' 



4 * Whole, but without the shell ?" queried Emile. 



"No, my friend; with the shell too; in fact, nuts 

 just as the tree bears them." 



"A aut with the shell, no matter how small, must 

 make a hard mouthful to swallow, and still harder to 

 digest. " 



"I don't deny it; but finally, with the finger push- 

 ing the nut a little into the throat, and the hand 

 gently pressing from the base of the beak to the crop, 

 the voluminous mouthful ends by going down, not 

 without some grimaces on the part of the bird." 



"And reason enough for them!" exclaimed Emile. 



"One nut would be nothing; but that is not all. 

 The next day they force it to swallow two, the next 



