102 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



lively as the four and twenty blackbirds in the nursery song, 

 when the crust of that famous pie in which they were baked, 

 is opened to the wonder and admiration of all juvenile natur- 

 alists. 



Now that the chicks have fairly entered on life, what is to 

 be done with them ? Leave them to the care of the mother ? 

 Nature, you say, is the best guardian and provider. True, were 

 the mother in the woods, wild and undomesticated. But she 

 is under your protection, and in your hands is the destiny of 

 her offspring. You must do something for them, at least after 

 they are a day or two old, or they will perish from starvation. 

 In doing this, however, avoid the too frequent and mischievous 

 practice of stuffing and overloading them with food. They 

 are but tiny birds, with constitutions as delicate as can well be 

 imagined. Shun, too, the absurd treatment of thrusting a pep- 

 per corn down their throats, to invigorate them. But begin 

 betimes to supply them with crumbs, not soaked in wine, as 

 the English writers recommend, but softened in water. The 

 same food of which the parent turkey eats, except grain in an 

 unbroken state, the chicks will eat. The article most in use 

 for this purpose, is Indian meal made into a paste and this given 

 to them in small allowances, will be sufficient for their present 

 wants. They should, for a week or more, be kept under cover, 

 and then they may be placed out of doors, in some enclosure, 

 to prevent the old one from rambling. A frequent practice is 

 to tie her to a stake, by a string attached to her leg. But with 

 such a confinement she is not well pleased ; and in one instance 

 I have known a sad fate befall a turkey thus tied, being torn in 

 pieces by a strange dog that attacked her. If it be desirable 

 to confine the mother, it may be done by placing a crockery 

 crate over her, at the sides of which the little ones could have 

 easy passage in and out. 



At night, and in wet weather, turkey chicks must be safely 

 housed, and the house must be large enough to be well ven- 

 tilated, and high enough at the door to drive in the old one 

 without trouble. I should recommend invariably a floor of 

 boards, with the edges and those of the side closely united, so 

 as to keep out all intruders. For want of such a precaution, I 



