THE WILD TURKEY. 135 



In Canada they are met with in the detached belts 

 of wood west and north of Lake Superior, and in the 

 forests west of Amherstburg. There are a few near 

 Chatham, and I am told that there are scattered birds 

 in the neighbourhood of Hamilton, at the upper end of 

 Lake Ontario, and also in other western townships; but 

 I never heard of them when in those parts myself and 

 should be inclined to doubt it. It is a singular fact that 

 they are unknown in the Eastern Province, though they 

 still extend from western Canada through the States, as 

 far south as Mexico. 



As a sport, the pursuit of the Wild-turkey ranks 

 high in the estimation of the sportsman. I do not of 

 course allude to the practice of shooting the roosting 

 birds on moonlight nights, when they guide the gunner 

 by their continual gobbling, and sit helplessly looking at 

 their falling companions without attempting to escape ; 

 or to the equally exciting amusement of calling the male 

 birds in the breeding season by imitating the cry of the 

 hen, and then riddling the unsuspecting dupe at close 

 quarters with a charge of buck-shot. Nor is the practice 

 of the Indians and settlers much more to be commended, 

 who, immediately after the breeding season, when the 

 males are in the worst possible condition poor, lean, and 

 reduced hunt them on horseback, and with the assist- 

 ance of their curs run them down, at a time when they 



