162 THE TURKEY. 



relished from the tip of a finger. The proverb that "The 

 master's eye fattens the horse," is applicable to them, 

 not in a metaphorical, but in a literal sense ; for they 

 certainly take their food with a better appetite if their 

 keeper stays to distribute it, and see them eat it, than if 

 he merely "set it down and left them to help themselves. 



I believe this to be the case with more domesticated 

 animals than we are aware of, and appears natural 

 enough if we remember how much more we enjoy a meal 

 in the society of those we love and respect, than if we 

 partook of it in indifferent or disagreeable company. 



However, there can be no doubt that young turkeys, 

 pampered and spoiled for about three hundred genera- 

 tions, have at length acquired an innate disposition to 

 rely on the care of man. When the early voyagers 

 discovered new islands, the birds upon them were quite 

 tame, and easily killed by sticks and stones, being fear- 

 less of man ; but they soon learned to know their enemy, 

 and this newly-acquired sagacity was possessed by their 

 offspring,, which had never seen a man. Wild and 

 domesticated turkeys are, in fact, from the same original 

 type; it is only necessary to compare them, when 

 hatched together under a hen, to be convinced of the 

 principle of hereditary transmission of habits the wild 

 young ones instantly fly from man, the tame ones are 

 indifferent to his presence. Young of rabbits, wild and 

 tame, show this contrast more strongly than any crea- 

 tures with which I am acquainted. 



The turkeys, then, are hatched, and we are rearing 

 them. Abundant food for the mother and her young, 

 constant attention to their wants, are the grand desid- 

 erata. An open glade, in a grove, with long grass and 

 shrubs here and there, is the best possible location. A 

 great deal is said about clear and fresh water for tur- 

 keys ; but I have observed that if left to their own choice, 

 they will be as content and healthy with the rinsings 

 of the scullery, or the muddiest pool, as with the purest 

 spring. The long grass will afford them cover from 

 birds of prey; the hen will herself drive off four-footed 

 enemies with great courage. Insects, too, will abound 

 in such a situation. When the little creatures are three 



