THE TURKEY. 105 



has also some Pheasant Bantams which are about the same 

 weight. They are of fawn-colored plumage, tipped with black. 

 There are many varieties of this fowl, highly prized as orna- 

 mental birds, but it does not comport with the design of this 

 book to describe more of them at present. 



A long catalogue of breeds and varieties of the domestic fowl 

 might be inserted here, some more, and others less valuable. 

 But it has only been my object to describe the best varieties, 

 and, for the most part, such as could be identified by authentic 

 portraits, taken from the life. In subsequent editions of this 

 work, others will be described, all others which have really 

 meritorious claims, as they can be identified, and original por- 

 traits procured. I would therefore request all breeders and 

 fanciers who may be in possession of valuable or favorite fowls, 

 not here described, to communicate with me, and to furnish 

 such information as may be pertinent and valuable. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE TURKEY. 



ON this subject Mr. Richardson has written with singular 

 ability, and in what follows a free use has been made of his 

 labors. 



" Various opinions," he says, " have been promulgated rel- 

 ative to the original country of the turkey, but it is now ascer- 

 tained, beyond a doubt, to have been America ; and it is in 

 that country alone that the true original of the domestic turkey 

 s yet to be met with in all its primitive wildness, clothed in its 

 natural plumage, genuinely wild in all its habits, the unre- 

 claimed denizen of the wilderness. As to the medium through 



