BRITISH BIRDS. 331 



bird, especially in having a bare red carunculated 

 head and neck, a fleshy dilatable appendage hang- 

 ing over the bill, and a short blunt spur or knob at 

 the back part of the leg. 



Tame Turkies, like every other animal in a state 

 of domestication, are of various colours ; of these 

 the prevailing one is dark grey, inclining to black, 

 with a little white towards the end of the feathers; 

 some are perfectly white ; others black and white ; 

 there is also a beautiful variety of a fine deep cop- 

 per colour, with the greater quills pure white ; the 

 tail of a dirty white ; in all of them the tuft of 

 black hair on the breast is prevalent. Great num- 

 bers are bred in Norfolk, Suffolk, and other coun- 

 ties, whence they are driven to the London markets 

 in flocks of several hundreds. The drivers manage 

 them with facility, by means of a bit of red rag tied 

 to a long rod, which, from the antipathy these birds 

 bear to that colour, effectually drives them forward. 



The motions of the male, when agitated with 

 desire, or inflamed with rage, are very similar to 

 those of the Peacock ; he erects his tail, and 

 spreads it like a fan, whilst his wings droop and 

 trail on the ground, and he utters at the same time 

 a dull hollow sound ; he struts round and round 

 with a solemn pace, assumes all the dignity of the 

 most majestic of birds, every now and then burst- 

 ing out abruptly into a loud unmusical gurgle. 

 The hen begins to lay early in the spring ; she is 

 very attentive to the business of incubation, and 

 will produce fifteen or sixteen chicks at one time, 

 but seldom has more than one hatch in a season in 

 this climate. Young Turkies, after their extrica- 

 tion from the shell, are very tender, and require 



