140 THE TURKEY. 



ers the bill and depends several inches below it. A 

 tuft of long rigid black hair springs from the lower 

 part of the neck at its junction with the breast, shoot- 

 ing out from among the plumage to the length of nine 

 inches. The base of the feathers of the body, which 

 are long and truncated, consists of a light fuliginous 

 down ; this part of the feather is succeeded by a dusky 

 portion, which is again followed by a broad shining 

 metallic band, varying from copper color or bronze to 

 violet or purple, according to the play of the light, and 

 the tip is a broad velvety band ; but this last is absent 

 in the feathers of the neck and breast. The general 

 plumage presents a glancing metallic lustre, which is, 

 however, least glossy on the lower part of the back 

 and tail coverts. The wings are concave and rounded, 

 not extending much if at all beyond the base of the 

 tail. Quills twenty -eight ; primaries blackish banded 

 with white, secondaries whitish, banded with blackish, 

 tinged towards the back particularly with brownish- 

 yellow. Tail fifteen inches in length at least, rounded 

 at the extremity ; the feathers eighteen, broad and 

 capable of expansion and elevation into a fan shape. 

 The general color of these feathers is brown mottled 

 with black, crossed by numerous narrow, undulating 

 lines of the same. There is a broad black band near 

 the tip, then a short mottled portion, and lastly, a 

 broad dingy yellowish band. The bird stands rather 

 high on its robust red legs, the scales of which have 

 blackish margins, and the blunt spurs are about an 

 inch long; the claws are dusky. Bill reddish, but 

 horn-colored at the tip. 



The female, at the age of about four or five years, 

 attains her full size and coloring. At this age hens 

 have the pectoral fascicle of hair developed to the ex- 

 tent of four or five inches, which, according to Mr. 

 Audubon, they exhibit a little in the second year if not 

 barren. But this fascicle is much thinner than that of 

 the male. Barren hens do not obtain this distinction 

 until a very advanced age, and, being preferable for the 



