WILD TURKEY. 



■'^^■< 



'This wandering, shy, secluded bird, 



This roamer of the forest-ground, 

 Thro' all the Western wilderness, 



In dense, embowering haunt is found/ 



As a distinct American game bird of high 

 quaHty, — closely related, through its ancestry, 

 to the fine fowls "that the commissaries found" 

 when the boys in blue were marching through 

 Georgia — -the wild turkey is deserving of disting- 

 uished consideration. The wild turkey is con- 

 siderably larger than the domestic bird, and the 

 adult male in his native haunts is one of the 

 proudest and handsomest specimens of winged 

 game to be found in the United States. 



In the early part of the present century, 

 when Daniel Boone ^vas the pioneer hunter of 

 the West, the habitat of the wild turkey extended 

 northward into Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and the 

 Northwestern states, but it is now found mainly 

 in the South and Southwest. An expert caller, 

 imitating the yelp of the wild turkey, can usually 

 attract the wary birds within easy rifle range. 

 Dogs are sometimes used in hunting wild turkey's, 

 and the sport when pursued in any proper style 

 is very enjoyable. Col. James Gordon ("Pious 

 Jeems"), of Mississippi, an accomplished sports- 

 man, and writer, is the author of several instruc- 

 tive essays on this subject. 



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