An Old Acquaintance. 243 



reversions to our once familiar Eastern bird have been known 

 to occur, which would necessarily have been the case had 

 they been so closely related as was once maintained. 



Meleagris Mexicana affects sparsely-overgrown savannas, 

 and occupies in Mexico the region of the oaks and the coast 

 the tierra caliente of geographers. It is a very wary bird, 

 and lives in families. Insects of divers kinds, but chiefly of 

 a coleopterous character, as well as the seeds of grasses, 

 constitute its bill of fare. When searching for food, espe- 

 cially in perilous localities, a sentinel is stationed on the out- 

 skirts of the flock, whose duty it is to announce the presence 

 of danger. Flight is seldom resorted to at such times, for 

 these birds, being fleeter of foot than the swiftest dog, are 

 able to escape their enemies by running. 



Toward the close of March, or in the beginning of April, 

 the hens separate from the males, and seek for themselves 

 nesting-places in secluded localities. The nest is anything 

 but an elaborate affair, consisting of a few dry leaves or 

 grasses scratched into a depression by the side of a pros- 

 trate log. Here the eggs twelve beautiful, oval, speckled 

 treasures are laid, and for thirty long, weary days and 

 nights they are sat upon by their author in her efforts to 

 warm them into life. When she leaves them, which she does 

 a short time each day for food, she always takes the neces- 

 sary precaution to cover them with leaves, as a protection 

 against cold and intrusion. Nothing will tempt her to quit 

 the nest when the young are about to be hatched. So ab- 

 sorbed does she then become that she has been known to 

 submit to capture rather than endanger the lives of her off- 

 spring. 



No human mother manifests deeper affection for her chil- 

 dren than does this bird of the prairie for hers. She fondles 

 and dries them after they have escaped from their prison- 

 houses, and tenderly helps them out of the nest. It is now 

 that her cares may be said to commence. Where their in- 

 terest and well-being are concerned, hardly any responsibility 



