THE WILD TURKEY. 127 



DESCRIPTION. ADULT MALE. 



ILL shortish, robust, slightly arched, 

 rather obtuse, the base covered by a 

 bare membrane; upper mandible with 

 the dorsal outline arched, the sides con- 

 vex, the edges overlapping, the tip a little 

 declinate ; under mandible somewhat bulg- 

 ing towards the tip, the sides convex. 

 Nostrils situated in the basal membrane, 

 oblique, linear, covered by a cartilage. 



Head small, flattened above, with a conical, pendulous, erectile 

 caruncle on the forehead. Neck slender. Body robust. Feet 

 longish and strong ; tarsus covered anteriorly with numerous trans- 

 verse scutella, scaly on the sides, scutellate behind ; toes scutellate 

 above, scabrous, papillar, and flat beneath ; hind-toe elevated, half 

 the length of the lateral toes, which are nearly equal, and much 

 shorter than the middle toe ; claws slightly arched, strong, convex 

 above, obtuse flat beneath. A conical, rather obtuse, spur on the 

 tarsus, about two-thirds down. Conical papilla of the forehead 

 rugose, sparsely covered with bristles. Head bare and corrugated, 

 the skin irregularly raised, and covered with a few scattered 

 bristles. 



External ear margined with short and slender thin feathers. 

 Neck also bare, corrugated, beset anteriorly and below with a 

 series of oblong, irregular, cavernous caruncles, interspersed with 

 small, bristly feathers. 



Plumage in general compact, glossy, with metallic reflection. 

 Feathers double, as in other gallinaceous birds, generally oblong 

 and truncated. A pendulous tuft of long bristles from the upper 

 part of the breast. Wings shortish, convex, rounded, consisting 

 of eighteen broad, rounded feathers, capable of being erected and 

 expanded in a permanent manner when the bird is excited, and 

 reaching nearly to the ground when the bird stands erect. 



