HAUNTS OF THE TURKEY. 229 



stream or pool of water, to which during the process of 

 incubation she makes two or three visits a day — at 

 morning, noon, and evening. 



Prairie sloughs, which jut out some distance from 

 the main timber into the prairie, are favourite nesting 

 places, as she can then steal from her nest undetected 

 by the gobblers, keeping under shelter of the straggling 

 timber, and in the same manner regain her nest and sit 

 peacefully, the poor males being by this time so 

 thoroughly tattered and seedy in appearance that they 

 hide their poverty-stricken looks in the thickest parts 

 of the forest. 



The eggs are of a dull cream colour, plentifully 

 dotted with red. The hen generally lays about a dozen, 

 and during the time thus occupied, as well as while 

 incubating, she is extremely cautious in her move- 

 ments, taking a fresh path every time she leaves or 

 approaches the nest, and piling a quantity of leaves 

 and rubbish on the eggs, so as to hide them from 

 the eye. 



\\Tien the chickens leave the shell they are very 

 small, and their covering is more hairy than the down 

 which clothes the backs of tame turkey chicks. They 

 are rather an unruly brood, for instead of obeying the 

 mother's voice, they run into the forest with such ob- 

 stinacy that the}^ may be said to lead her, rather than 

 she lead them : this only continues for a day or two. 

 If the weather be rainy immediately after hatching, the 



