138 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



given them on a supposition of their coming from that coxintry, but they are really inhabitants of 

 A.merica ; they were first introduced into England about the year 1541. 



All the Turkeys have the head naked, with wattles, or folds, of bright naked skin, which becomes 

 much more brilliant when the bird is excited or angry ; they have also a curious tuft of long hairs on 

 the breast. The plumage of the Turkeys is always more or less metallic, and the wild birds are much 

 finer than the domestic race, which does not seem to have improved under the hand of man. There 

 are only three species of Wild Turkey known, the Common Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), the Mexican 



OCELLATED TURKEY. 



Turkey (M. mexicatia), and the Ocellated Turkey (J/. ocellata), the last being a very fine and 

 brilliantly coloured bird with metallic plumage. It is found in Honduras and Yucatan. 



"The Wild Turkey," writes Dr. Brewer, "is found throughout Eastern North America from 

 South Carolina northward, and from the Atlantic to Texas and Arkansas. It has probably become 

 jin extinct species in New England, though within a few years individuals have been shot in 

 Montague, Mass., and in other towns in Franklin county. The construction of railways, however, 

 and the settlement of the country, have probably led to their final extermination ; at least, I have 

 known of none being taken within the limits of Massachusetts for several years. In the unsettled 

 portions of the Western and Southern States, and in the country watered by the Mississippi and 

 the Missouri rivers and their affluents, these birds are comparatively plentiful, though the question 

 of their final extinction is probably only one of time, and that not very distant.'' 



Mr. Audubon, in his very full and minute account of their habits, speaks of them- as irregularly 



