114 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTI1 AMERICAN BIRDS. 



"Turkeys are still to be found quite commonly in suitable places in the 

 localities where the following observations were made, viz: The southern half 

 of St. Johns County and that part of Putnam County east of the St. Johns 

 River. These birds, though resident, are given to wandering a great deal, 

 and do not, like the Bob Whites, become attached to any particular locality. 

 At times they will remain in a favorable place for weeks, but they are very 

 uncertain, and will often leave such a spot for no apparent reason. When 

 they are molested, or when there is a scarcity of food, they will keep in 

 motion most of the time during the day, and will often travel many miles in 

 a few hours. 



"Wild Turkeys usually go in flocks, consisting of from two or three to 

 fifteen or twenty birds, and are also occasionally found singly. Small flocks 

 and single birds are more apt to be found now than formerly, and the large 

 droves, consisting of several flocks associating together, are seldom if ever to 

 be seen of late. Their favorite places of resort are woods with swamps in 

 them or in their vicinity, and they always go to these swamps to roost or 

 when molested. 



"These birds are polygamous, and the female takes all the cares and 

 duties of incubation upon herself. The gobblers are very pugnacious, and 

 will often fight fiercely for the favors of the hens. The love season begins 

 in Florida about the middle of February and lasts for about three months, 

 and during this period the gobblers frequently utter their call and are then 

 easily decoyed within gunshot. Native hunters have informed me that the 

 hens roost by themselves at this season of the year. 



"The nest is a slight depression in the ground, either at the foot of a 

 tree or under a thick bush or saw palmetto. It is lined sparingly with dead 

 leaves and grass, etc., but I could never find out whether this material was 

 placed there by the birds or was there originally. I think these birds raise 

 but one brood a season, though I have found fresh eggs as early as the 

 middle of March and as late as the 1st of May. I have never found more 

 than thirteen eggs in one nest, nor less than eight, unless they were fresh, 

 the usual number being ten. The chicks of this species are very tender, 

 and as they follow their mothers as soon as hatched I have often wondered 

 how the latter could raise so many as they do. The natives of Florida say 

 that a hen Turkey will desert her nest if the eggs are handled. Whether 

 this be true or not I do not know, for I never tried to find out but once, 

 and then, though the bird was gone on my second visit to the nest, I always 

 had a strong suspicion that she was shot, for its whereabouts was known to 

 several persons besides myself." 



These birds feed on beechnuts, acorns (especially those of the white and 

 chinquapin oaks), chestnuts, pecan-nuts, black persimmons, tunas (the fruit of 

 the prickly pear), leguminous seeds of various kinds, all the cultivated grains, 

 different wild berries and grapes, and the tender tops of plants; also grass- 

 hoppers, crickets, and other insects. The actions of the gobbler during the 



