THE TURKEY. 93 



The wild turkeys do not confine themselves to any par- 

 ticular food ; they eat maize, all sorts of berries, fruits, 

 grasses, beetles, arid even tadpoles, young frogs, and liz- 

 ards have occasionally been found in their crops ; but 

 where the pecun nut is plenty, they prefer that fruit to any 

 other nourishment. Their more general predilection, how- 

 ever, is for the acorn, on which they rapidly fatten. 

 When an unusually profuse crop of acorns is produced in 

 a particular section of country, great numbers of turkeys 

 are enticed from their ordinary haunts, in the surrounding 

 districts. About the beginning of October, they assemble 

 in flocks, and direct their course to the rich bottom lands. 

 At this season they are observed in great numbers on the 

 Ohio and Mississippi. The time of this irruption is known 

 to the Indians by the name of the Turkey month, 



The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in parties, 

 numbering from ten to one hundred, and seek their food 

 apart from the females ; whilst the latter either move about 

 singly with their young, or, in company with other females 

 and their families, form troops, sometimes consisting of 

 seventy or eighty individuals. They are all intent upon 

 avoiding the old males, who, whenever opportunity offers, 

 attack and destroy the young by repented blows on the 

 skull. All parties, however, travel in the same direction, 

 and on foot, unless they are compelled to seek their indi- 

 vidual safety by flying from the dog of the hunter, or their 

 progress is impeded by a large river. When about to 

 cross a river, they select the highest eminences, that their 

 flight may be the more certain ; and here they sometimes 

 remain for a day or more, as if for the purpose of consult- 

 ation, or to be duly prepared for so hazardous a voyage. 

 During this time the males gobble obstreperously, and 

 strut with extraordinary importance, as if they would ani- 

 mate their companions, and inspire them with hardihood. 

 The females and young also assume much of the pompous 

 air of the males, the former spreading their tails, and 



