144 HISTORY OF 



pursuit, and he is unwilling to abridge himself 

 in any accidental success that may attend his fa- 

 tigues. The hunting the turkey, therefore, makes 

 one of his principal diversions, as its flesh contri- 

 butes chiefly to the support of his family. When 

 he has discovered the place of their retreat, 

 which in general is near fields of nettles, or 

 where there is plenty of any kind of grain, he 

 takes his dog with him, which is trained to the 

 sport (a faithful rough creature, supposed to be 

 originally reclaimed from the wolf), and he sends 

 him into the midst of the flock. The turkeys no 

 sooner perceive their enemy, than they set off 

 running at full speed, and with such swiftness, 

 that they leave the dog far behind them : he 

 follows, nevertheless, and sensible they must soon 

 be tired, as they cannot go full speed for any 

 length of time, he at last forces them to take 

 shelter in a tree, where they sit, quite spent and 

 fatigued, till the hunter comes up, and with a 

 long pole knocks them down one after the other. 

 This manner of suffering themselves to be de- 

 stroyed, argues no great instinct in the animal ; 

 and indeed, in their captive state, they do not 

 appear to be possessed of much. They seem a 

 stupid, vain, querulous tribe, apt enough to quar- 

 rel among themselves, yet without any weapons to 

 do each other an injury. Every body knows the 

 strange antipathy the turkey-cock has to a red 

 colour, how he bristles, and with his peculiar 

 gobbling sound, flies to attack it. But there is 

 another method of increasing the animosity of 

 these birds against each other, which is often 



