THE hunter's call. 239 



will allow the hunter to shoot them one by one, 

 without exhibiting any alarm at the report of his rifle, 

 the appearance of an owl will scare them all from 

 their roosts. 



Excepting in Texas, and one or two other States in 

 the south, turkeys are now very shy, from having been 

 so much hunted. The moment they observe a man, 

 they instinctively move from him : they must there- 

 fore be approached with much caution. A friend of 

 mine has described the movements and artifices of a 

 celebrated turkey hunter when in pursuit of some 

 veteran gobbler. The quick ear of the hunter having 

 informed him whereabouts his game is, he quickly 

 ensconces himself in ambush, placing a few green 

 bushes before him to hide the muzzle of his rifle. 

 Thus prepared, he takes his call, and gives one solitary 

 ' cluck,'^ so exquisitely that it chimes in with the run- 

 ning brook and the rustling leaf. It may be that 

 half a mile off, if the place be favourable for conveying 

 sound, a gobbler is feeding ; prompted by his nature, 

 •as he scratches up the herbage that conceals his food, 

 he gives utterance to the sounds that first attracted the 

 hunter's attention. 



Poor bird ! he is bent upon filling his crop ; his 

 feelings are listless, commonplace ; his wings are awry, 

 the plumage on his breast seems soiled with rain, his 

 wattles are contracted and pale. Look ! he starts ; 

 every feather instantly assumes its place ; he raises his 



