Recent Literature. I^S 



14S. Chamaepelia passerina Sm. Ground Dove. — A rare summer 

 sojourner. Ha\'e never seen more than two together. 



149. Meleagris gallopavo (americana Ct^wes.^?). Wild Turkey. — 

 I can not state with certainty whether the Wild Turkey under considera- 

 tion is the Meleagris gallopavo aniericana or M. gallopavo, but I think 

 it is the first named variety. 1 have found the bird abundant in all the 

 heavily wooded districts, especially common in the thick woods with much 

 underbrush near Spring Creek. Eggs are often put under a tame hen, but 

 the young are not easily domesticated; as soon as they are grown they 

 become very wild, and many go off again to their favorite woods. Earlv 

 in May I have seen the mother bird with about a dozen young ones, but 

 they were so extremely wild that they suddenly disappeared among the 

 almost impenetrable thickets of blackberries {Rnbus villosiis) and Smilax 

 (Sm/lax laurifolia and 5. lanceoldfa). When the pecans are ripe, they 

 assemble in flocks of from ten to twenty and even thirty, and feed particu- 

 larly on these nuts. Later in the season they feed on several kinds of 

 acorns, and in winter when food becomes scarce, they eat the berries of the 

 myrtle-holly (^OreofJiila myrtifolia) and other berries. 



150. Cupidonia cupido Bd. Prairie Hen. — Common resident on 

 all the flat grassy prairies. Is becoming scarcer every year. 



151. Ortyx virginiana /?<?;/«/. Americ.\]s- Quail: -'Bob-white.'" — 

 Very abundant resident. Two broods are raised yearly. They are exceed- 

 ingly tame and confiding, breeding sometimes in close proximity to the 

 habitations of men. In winter from fifty to one hundred are usually seen 

 in cotton and sugar-cane fields. 



( I'd br co)jfi»uei.l.) 



lUfcnt fttcrnture. 



B.^iley's Index to Forest and Stream.* — The newspaper thus in- 

 dexed ;is to the bird-matter contained in its first twelve volumes has always 

 given much space to ornithological articles, which have become of late 

 years more valuable from a scientific standpoint than newspaper pieces 

 o-enerally are, being authenticated by the signatures of the writers instead 

 of some silly pen-name, and being on the whole scarcely below or not 

 below the grade of the bird-notes that one finds in periodicals of professed 

 technical character. No one who has had any experience in hunting for 

 what he wants through the scantily indexed pages of a weekly issue can 



* " Forest and Stream " Bird Notes. An index and summary of all the ornitholo- 

 gical matter contained in "Forest and Stream," Vols. I-XII. Compiled by H. B. 

 Bailev. New York : K. i^ S. Pub. Co., 39 Park Row. 1881. 8vo., paper, pp. iv, 195. 



