544 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



It is possible, however, to breed the wild turkey in 

 captivity and several wild turkey farms are in existence. 

 The State of Pennsylvania is trying to restock its wilder 

 game coverts with these magnificent birds and has re- 

 leased numbers of them obtained from these game farms. 

 It is to be hoped that the experiment will be a success 

 and that New York and New England will follow the 

 lead and bring back the noblest of American birds. 



In their habits, the wild turkeys are not very differ- 

 ent from the domestic birds. Except during the breed- 

 ing season, they live in small flocks of from six to 

 twelve individuals of both sexes, feeding upon acorns, 

 nuts, etc., and ordinarily roosting in the same trees 

 each night. At the beginning of the breeding season 

 in March, the flocks disband and the males begin to 

 gobble. Gobbling takes the place of the drumming of 

 the grouse or the crowing of the rooster and usually is 

 heard only early in the morning before the bird leaves 

 the roost. When he has 

 been successful in attract- 

 ing a female, he struts and 

 displays like the domestic 

 bird. Turkeys are poly- 

 gamous and frequently 

 rival males engage in fierce 

 battles, the victor becom- 

 ing lord of the harem. 

 After incubation begins, 

 the males lose their ani- 

 mosity toward each other 

 and again flock together 

 leaving the cares of the 

 family entirely to the fe- 

 males. 



The wild turkey is our 

 largest and finest game 

 bird. With the increase of 

 agriculture and the dis- 

 appearance of our forests, 

 it is to be expected that 

 its range will be greatly 

 restricted, but as long as 

 we have National and State 

 forest preserves and rough 

 country that the plough cannot turn, we should have 

 wild turkeys. Greater effort should be made by the 

 National Government and the various state conserva- 

 tion commissions to save the remnant of these splendid 

 birds and to reintroduce them into our game refuges and 

 sanctuaries. Let our children's children feel the thrill 

 that stirred our forefathers when they heard the distant 

 challenge of the old gobbler, heard his rush of wings 

 as he made off through the forest, or came suddenly 

 upon a troop of them picking beech nuts in some 

 forest glade. 



The American Quail (Family Odontophoridae) 



At the other extreme in size from the turkeys among 

 the upland game birds are the quails. Some of the 

 Old World species are no larger than sparrows and 



PROUD AS A PHEASANT 



The peacock is a member of the pheasant familv 



seem to have considerable family pride. The Ringnecked pheasant is 

 a hybrid between the English pheasant and the Chinese ringneck and 

 was brought to this country from England where it originated. 



none of our American quails are as large as pigeons. 

 The American quails, which differ uniformly from the 

 true quails and partridges of Europe in that the cutting 

 edges of the bill are serrate or finely toothed instead 

 of being smooth, and likewise in the entire absence of 

 spurs on the legs, number about 100 species. The 

 majority of these are confined to the tropics, but seven 

 species are known north of the Mexican boundary. Of 

 these, the bob-white is the best known in the East and 

 the California quail on the Pacific coast. 



The bob-white is native as far west as Colorado, but 

 has been introduced into New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, 

 California, Oregon and Washington. It has always 

 been a favorite game bird and throughout the South 

 has been fairly well able to hold its own. Of recent 

 years, however, because of its destruction of the cot- 

 ton-boll weevils and other destructive insects, a senti- 

 ment has been growing up in favor of removing it from 



the game list and some 

 states are now giving it 

 complete protection. Its 

 cheery call of bob-white, 

 is the most musical of any 

 of the notes of the game 

 birds, which, together with 

 its confiding habits and in- 

 sectivorous diet, is almost 

 enough to put it on the 

 song bird list. When 

 hunted, however, it be- 

 comes almost as wary as 

 the grouse and in the 

 many states where there 

 are no grouse and pheas- 

 ants do not seem to do 

 well, there is nothing to 

 take its place as a game 

 bird. 



Except during the breed- 

 ing season, bob-whites are 

 found in covies which are 

 usually members of one 

 family though sometimes 

 where food is abundant, 

 the different covies join forming large flocks. They 

 feed about open fields, hedgerows and even about gar- 

 dens. When alarmed, they usually run together before 

 taking wing and then get up with a rumble that is 

 quite confusing. At night they form a close circle, 

 their little tails together and their heads pointing out, 

 a veritable bomb ready to explode at the approach of 

 an enemy. 



The bob-white is not polygamous as are the grouse 

 and turkeys, and the male bird is a conscientious father 

 and helps incubate the eggs and care for the young. 

 The nest is a mere depression in the ground beneath 

 a fallen branch or any place where the dried grass is 

 thick enough to help form the arch or roof which 

 usually conceals the eggs from above. The eggs num- 



3tid all its members 



'he 



