THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



Wild Turkey. Distinctly an American bird which for- 

 merly ranged throughout the wooded portions of the east- 

 ern United States from southern Maine and southwestern 

 Ontario, southward to Florida, New Mexico, Arizona and 

 the Mexican tablelands. The wild turkey has now become 

 rare and is seldom found farther north than Pennsylvania 

 and Ohio. The birds differ from the domesticated turkey 

 chiefly in the color of the tips of the tail feathers and upper 

 tail-coverts. 



Florida Great Blue Heron. While a rather homely ob- 

 ject on the ground, in flight, with its neck folded and great 

 wings slowly flapping, the heron appears quite stately. 

 Herons are often miscalled "cranes." They are found 

 throughout North America, and live on frogs, fish and 

 reptiles. 



Water Turkey or Snakebird. A few miles west of St. 

 Lucie, Florida, may be found a scene such as is here de- 

 picted. The water turkey has also been called "snake- 

 bird," from its resemblance to a serpent when swimming 

 near the surface, with its long, slender, snakelike neck 

 above the water. The young of these birds, like the young 

 of pelicans and cormorants, secure their food from the par- 

 ent's throat. 



Sandhill Crane. These birds are still to be found on the 

 great Kissimmee Prairie in Florida. In March they com- 

 monly build a little island nest in the water-filled depres- 

 sions with a species of pickerel weed. Their nest-building 



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