OTHER POULTRY. 



TURKEYS. 



It is agreed on all sides that the turkey is a native of the West 

 Continent, some maintaining that the wild and domesticated 

 birds have a common origin from the wild variety now in our for- 

 ests, the variations having been caused by the influences of domes- 

 tication, while others contend that there were three original types 

 of the wild turkeys, viz : the Mexican, Honduras and the Bronze 

 turkey still found in the United States 



Be this as it may, it is of little importance to the practical breeder. 

 Naturalists have given to the three varieties the following 

 names, viz: Meleagris Ocellata, to those from Central America; M. 

 Americana, to the wild American species such as are found in our 

 forests, and M. Mexicana, to the Mexican species. 



If it is true that all of the varieties of chickens have been pro- 

 duced from a single original, the Gallus Bankiva, as claimed by Mr. 

 Darwin, it is not difficult to believe that all of our domestic breeds 

 of turkeys have a common origin. 



The principal varieties which claim distinctive characteristics 

 are the Bronze, the Cambridge, the White Holland and the Nor- 

 folk. 



The Bronze resembles very closely in plumage the M. Americana 

 or common wild turkey of our forests, and seems to have been the 

 result of a cross of the wild gobbler upon the domestic hen. They 

 are very handsome and hardy and attain to a greater size than the 

 other varieties, the gobblers weighing as much as forty pounds. 



They are more disposed to range than the other breeds, and hence 

 cannot be kept except where abundant range is afforded on the 

 premises of the owner. The other breeds are more domestic but 

 less hardy and of smaller size. The variegated colors of many tur- 

 keys result from crosses of the different breeds. 



They have not been bred with the same care that chickens have 

 except, perhaps, the Bronze variety, which has received much at- 

 tention within the last few years. 



