THE TURKEY. 



69 



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 



to come within twenty paces, but ran off twenty or 

 thirty yards with her tail expanded, when, assuming a 

 stately gait, she paused on every step, occasionally ut- 

 tering a chuck. They seldom abandon their nests on 

 account of being discovered by man, but should a snake, 

 or any other animal, suck one of the eggs, the parent 

 leaves them altogether. If the eggs be removed, she 

 again seeks the male and recommences laying, though 

 otherwise she lays but one nest of eggs during the sea- 

 son. Several turkey hens sometimes associate, perhaps 

 for mutual safety, deposit their eggs in the same nest, 

 and rear their broods together. Mr Audubon once 

 found three females sitting on forty-two eggs. In such 

 cases, the nest is constantly guarded by one of the par- 

 ties, so that no crow, raven, nor even polecat, dares ap- 

 proach it. 



When the process of incubation is ended, and the 

 mother is about to retire from the nest with her young 

 brood, she shakes herself violently, picks and adjusts 

 the feathers about the belly, and assumes a different 

 aspect ; her eyes are alternately inclined obliquely up- 

 wards and sidewise; she stretches forth her neck, in 

 every direction, to discover birds of prey or other ene- 

 mies ; her wings are partially spread, and she softly 

 clucks to keep her tender offspring close to her side. 

 They proceed slowly, and, as the hatching generally 

 occurs in the afternoon, they sometimes return to pass 

 the first night in the nest. While very young the 

 mother leads them to elevated dry places, as if aware 

 that humidity, during the first few days of their life, 

 would be very dangerous to them, they having then 

 no other protection than a delicate, soft, hairy down. 

 In very rainy seasons wild turkeys are scarce, be- 

 cause, when completely wetted, the young rarely sur- 

 vive. 



At the expiration of about two weeks, the young 

 leave the ground on which they had previously reposed 

 at night under the female, and follow her to some low, 

 large branch of a tree, where they nestle under the 

 broadly curved wings of their vigilant and fostering 

 parent. The time then approaches in which they seek 

 the open ground or prairie land during the day, in search 

 of strawberries, and subsequently of dewberries, black- 

 berries, and grasshoppers; thus securing a plentiful food, 

 and enjoying the influence of the genial sun. They fre- 

 quently dust themselves in shallow cavities of the soil, 

 or on anthills, in order to clean off the loose skin of their 

 growing feathers, and rid themselves of ticks and other 

 vermin. 



The young turkeys now grow rapidly, and in the 

 month of August, when several broods flock together, 

 and are led by their mothers to the forest, they are stout 

 and quite able to secure themselves from the unexpected 

 attacks of wolves, foxes, lynxes, and even cougars, by 

 rising quickly from the ground, aided by their strong 

 legs, and reaching with ease the upper limbs of the 

 tallest tree. Amongst the numerous enemies of the 

 wild turkey, the most dreaded are the large diurnal and 

 nocturnal birds of prey, and the lynx {Felix rufa,) who 

 sucks their eggs, and is extremely expert at seizing both 

 parent and young; he follows them for some distance, 

 in order to ascertain their course, and then, making a 

 rapid circular movement, places himself in ambush be- 

 fore them, and waits until, by a single bound, he can 

 fasten on his victim. 



These birds are guardians of each other, and the first 

 who sees a hawk or eagle gives a note of alarm, on 

 which all within hearing lie close to tiie ground. As 

 they usually roost in docks, perched on the naked branches 



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 



of trees, they are easily discovered by the large owls, 

 and, when attacked by these prowling birds, often escape 

 by a somewhat remarkable manuosuvre. The owl sails 

 around the spot to select his prey ; but, notwithstanding; 

 the almost inaudible action of his pinions, the quick ear 

 of one of the slumberers perceives the danger, which is 

 immediately announced to the whole party by a chuck ; 

 thus alarmed, they rise on their legs, and watch the mo- 

 tions of the owl, who, darting like an arrow, would in- 

 evitably secure the individual at which he aimed, did not 

 the latter suddenly drop his head,' squat, and spread his 

 tail over his back; the owl then glances over without 

 inflicting any injury, at the very instant that the turkey 

 suffers himself to fall headlong towards the earth, where 

 he is secure from his dreaded enemy. 



On hearing the slightest noise, wild turkeys conceal 

 themselves in the grass, or among shrubs, and thus fre- 

 quently escape the hunter, or the sharp-sighted birds of 

 prey. The sportsman is unable to find them during the 

 day, unless he has a dog trained for the purpose j it is 

 necessary to shoot them at a very short distance, since, 

 when only wounded, they quickly disappear, and, acce- 

 lerating their motion by a sort of half flight, run with 

 so much speed, that the swiftest hunter cannot overtake 

 them. The traveller, driving rapidly down the decli- 

 vity of one of the Alleghanies, may sometimes see 

 several of them before him, that evince no urgent desire 

 to get out of the road; but, on alighting, in hopes of 

 shooting them, he soon finds that all pursuit is vain. 



The most common mode of taking turkeys is by 

 means of pens, constructed with logs, covered in at top, 

 and with a passage in the earth under one side of it, 

 just large enough to admit an individual when stooping. 

 The ground chosen for this purpose is generally sloping, 

 and the passage is cut on the lower side, widening out- 

 wards. These preparations being completed, Indian 

 corn is strewed for some distance around the pen, to en- 

 tice the flock, which, picking up the grain, is gradually 

 led towards the passage, and thence into the enclosure, 

 where a sufficient quantity of corn is spread to occupy 

 the leader until the greater part of the turkeys have en- 

 tered. When they raise their heads and discover that 

 they are prisoners, all their exertions to escape are di- 

 rected upwards and against the sides of the pen, not 

 having sagacity enough to stoop sufficiently low to pass 

 out by the way they entered, aud thus they become an 

 easy prey, not only to the experienced hunter, but even 

 to the boys on the frontier settlements. 



In proportion to the abundance or scarcity of food, 

 and its good or bad quality, they are small or large, 

 meagre or fat, and of an excellent or indifferent flavour: 

 in general, however, their flesh is more delicate, more 

 succulent, and better tasted than that of the tame tur- 

 key: they are in the bes.t order late in the autumn, or 

 in the beginning of winter. The Indians value this 

 food so highly, when roasted, that they call it " the 

 white man's dish," and present it to strangers as the 

 best they can offer. They make much use of their tails 

 as fans; the women weave their feathers with much art 

 on a loose web made of the rind of the birch tree, ar- 

 ranging them so as to keep the down on the inside, and 

 exhibit the brilliant surface to the eye. 



Among the benefits conferred by America on the rest 

 of the world, the gift of this noble bird should occupy a 

 distinguished place, as unquestionably one of the most 

 useful of the feathered tribe, being capable of minister- 

 ing largely to the sustenance and comfort of the human 

 race. Though the turkey is surpassed in external beauty 

 by the magnificent ^eacocls, its flesh is greatly superior 



