THE WILD TURKEY. 123 



observed in the Turkey as early as the month of March, and if 

 the weather be favorable, even as soon as the middle of February. 

 The first change that takes place in their ordinary habits, that 

 seems to mark the near approach of this sexual desire, is the 

 partial separation of the females from the males, accompanied 

 by the almost incessant gohhling of the latter. The Turkey, 

 like others of the Gallinaceous order, is very salacious, and does 

 not, by any means, confine his attentions to one Hen, but often- 

 times becomes the mate and protector of several, and is ever 

 ready to give battle at the slightest token of intrusion on the 

 part of less favored rivals. 



These conflicts, too, are often contested in the most desperate 

 manner, insomuch that death to several of the combatants not 

 unfrequently results in a general engagement. 



Audubon remarks on this head : " I have often been much 

 diverted, while watching two males in fierce conflict, by seeing 

 them move alternately backwards and forwards, as either had 

 obtained a better hold, their wings drooping, their tails partly 

 raised, their body feathers ruffled, and their heads covered with 

 blood. If, as they thus struggle, and gasp for breath, one of 

 them should lose his hold, his chance is over ; for the other, still 

 holding fast, hits him violently with spurs and wings, and in a 

 few minutes brings him to the ground. The moment he is 

 dead, the conqueror treads him under foot, but, what is strange, 

 not with hatred, but with all the motions which he employs in 

 caressing the female." 



The period of sexual intercourse continues for several weeks, 

 when the female, towards the middle of April, begins to make 

 arrangements for placing her eggs in security. She now sees 

 far less of her mate, being anxiously occupied in securing a 

 favorable site for the nest, which is formed on the ground in a 

 very slovenly and artless manner. 



A dry situation is always selected for this purpose, most gene- 

 rally a mere hollow, scooped out in the ground by the side of 

 an old stump, moss-covered-log, or fallen tree, hidden from 

 casual view, by the intervention of thick and tangled bushes, 

 and the approach protected by the rank growth of creeping 

 vines and matted briers. 



They also form their nests occasionally in the small thickets 



