84 THE TURKEY. 



SECTION XL 



The Turkey. Breeding and Management. 



ONE TURKEY-COCK is sufficient for six hens, and 

 even more, under the management of some districts, 

 where one breeder keeps a cock for his own, and 

 for the use of his neighbours, who send their hens, 

 and in that mode avoid the charge of keeping a 

 cock ; but this practice is exposed to uncertainty, 

 and is scarcely worth following, although, whilst the 

 hen is sitting, the absence of a cock is no loss, as he 

 will sometimes find the opportunity of tearing the 

 hen from her nest, and in the struggle, of destroying 

 the eggs. 



The hen will COVER, according to her size, from 

 nine to fifteen EGGS, and unless attended to, will, 

 perhaps, steal a nest abroad in some improper and 

 insecure place. The turkey hen lays a considerable 

 number of eggs in the 'spring, to the amount of 

 eighteen to twenty-five and upwards, and her term 

 of incubation is thirty days. She is a most steady 

 sitter, and will sometimes continue upon her eggs 

 until almost starved, rather than quit her nest : 

 hence the necessity of constant attendance with both 

 victuals and water. She is also a most affectionate 

 mother ; and that most curious and accurate ob- 

 server, Buffon, remarks her soft and plaintive cry, 



