226 THE WILD TUEKET. 



the case with fowls, ducks, cattle, sheep, pigs, and 

 other animals which are kept by man for pleasure or 

 profit. 



It has, indeed, been stated that the Spaniards found 

 a domestic turkey in the possession of the inhabitants 

 of Mexico and the West Indian Islands ; and if such be 

 the case, it will go far to prove that the domestic turkey 

 is a distinct species from the wild. The experiment 

 has often been tried of hatching wild turkey eggs 

 under barn-door fowls; but the young birds always 

 strayed away into the forests, preferring to remain with 

 their own kindred rather than with the foster-mother 

 provided by the experimentalists. 



The domestic turkey — no matter where or by whom 

 bred — is in every respect inferior to his wild kinsman 

 of the forest. Even in America, where it is suffered to 

 roam about the fields at pleasure, almost without 

 restraint, it is in no respect better than the inhabitant 

 of a European poultry yard. Crosses sometimes 

 occur ; — such being the influence of slavery, even upon 

 birds, that in remote settlements the robust gobbler 

 from the forest will drive his degenerate kinsmen from 

 their females, and even from their food. The produce 

 of such commixtures is much esteemed. 



A person who has seen the turkey only in the 

 poultry yards can form no idea of the splendour of a 

 wild bird in full plumage. An untamed zebra from 

 the desert, and a Blackheath donkey at the end of 



