212 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the severest storms of rain or snow, they prefer 

 the open air, and a lofty tree on which to take 

 up lodgings for the night. Here, perched head 

 to the wind, they ride out the hardest gales in 

 safety with apparent pleasure. The instances 

 are rare in which they are known to perish from 

 cold or storm. When the old hens shed their 

 feathers late in the fall, as will sometimes be 

 the case, it is well to house them in storms and 

 cold nights, till they renew their feathers, and 

 it may be prudent to do so in extremely severe 

 weather in winter. 



We will now suppose that winter is gone, and 

 spring is beginning to open. The notes of the 

 blue-bird and robin are heard welcoming the 

 advent of warmer skies. As the snow melts 

 away, patches of green grass are here and there 

 disclosed to view. Turkeys no longer hang 

 about the barn, like so many loafers, but spend 

 most of their time in the orchard, and on the 

 sunny side of walls and buildings. The cock 

 turkey now is as full of airs as any city dandy, 

 perambulating hither and thither, strutting in 

 front and at the sides of his hens, more intent 

 on exciting admiration of his own beautiful per- 

 son than bestowing it upon theirs. This species 

 of courtship continues throughout the spring, 

 even after the hens have laid out their litters 

 and have began to sit. His attentions to them 

 during this period often become so officious and 

 annoying that it is best to separate him entirely 

 from them. 



The hen turkey is very shy in selecting her 

 nest, and is sometimes so particular as to be a 

 number of days in securing a place to her fancy. 

 In this she is probably governed by instinct to 

 provide a safe place for her eggs and her young. 

 The first intimation, after mating, of her dispo- 

 sition to lay, is by her stealing away from her 

 companions, going here and there, with head 

 down, as if meditating upon the task before her. 

 If closely watched, she will be most likely to 

 give up her project for the present. Even after 

 she has began to lay, she must be followed at a 

 distance. A better way to find the nest, if out 

 of doors, is to observe the direction in which 

 she returns from it. 



If left to her own choice, the turkey will usu- 

 ally make her nest out of doors, at the side of 



walls, under a bush, in long grass, or in a thick- 

 et. Although so fastidious in the site of her 

 nest, she is not at all particular as to the ma- 

 terials of which it is composed, and is as well 

 contented with the bare ground as with a bed 

 of leaves. After a place is selected, it is not 

 always the first day or the second that it is made 

 the depository for the first egg. She seems in- 

 tent rather on adapting herself to it and en- 

 deavoring to get the hang of it. The number 

 of eggs which a turkey will lay in the spring va- 

 ries from fifteen to twenty-five. They should 

 be gathered daily, or as often as they are laid, 

 and carefully kept in a cool place. If left out 

 over night, they may be chilled or stolen. But 

 to guard against such accidents nature teaches 

 the turkey silly bird as we sometimes call her 

 just what to do, by covering them up careful- 

 ly with leaves or dead grass. To be sure she 

 does this in warm weather as well as cold, but 

 the covering serves equally in both to screen 

 them from observation. 



When she has laid her litter, the turkey man- 

 ifests her desire to sit by remaining on her nest 

 even if no nest-egg be under her. She should 

 be permitted to do this for some days before 

 the eggs are placed under her, observing, how- 

 ever, to drive her off at night if the nest be out 

 of doors. When this is the case, it will not be 

 safe to let her sit there, as the eggs and herself 

 will be exposed to weasels, skunks, foxes, and 

 other midnight marauders. A nest should there- 

 fore be prepared for her under cover. The 

 barn is a good place for this purpose, and the 

 ground-floor. Better still is a shed or an out- 

 house, which can be kept fastened, as the lia- 

 bility to accidents is thus diminished to almost 

 none at all. The nests should be rather shal- 

 low, and spread out over sufficient space for all 

 the eggs to rest on the surface. 



The number of eggs that can be covered by 

 a turkey depends upon her size: twenty is a 

 large number, and better success may be ex- 

 pected with fifteen or seventeen. Having placed 

 the eggs in the nest, allow the hen turkey to 

 remain on her original nest, if out of doors, till 

 dusk, and then carefully take her in your arms 

 and remove her to her new abode. Sometimes 

 she will be frightened and disposed to escape. 



