194 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



turkeys extend it, or go on an exploring expedition which takes 

 them a long way from home. If night overtakes them at a 

 distance from home, they look for a convenient roosting place 

 and remain there. 



The feeding habits of the turkey make it especially valuable 

 for destroying grasshoppers and other insects that damage field 

 crops. To get an adequate idea of the great quantities of insects 



FIG. 1 60. Turkey roost in shelter of barn on a Rhode Island farm 



destroyed by a flock of turkeys, and of the waste food that they 

 save and turn to profit by eating it, one should take careful 

 note of the amount of food consumed when the turkeys are 

 fed all that they can eat at one time (as when they are be- 

 ing fattened), and from this compute the amount that a flock 

 must pick in order to live, as many flocks do, from spring 

 until fall almost wholly upon what they get by foraging. Tur- 

 keys are much more systematic foragers than fowls, working 

 more in concert. A flock advances in an irregular yet orderly 



