CHAI-. in.] EXTANT IN CENTRAL AMERICA. '277 



bird, and gains the greatest perfection at the foot of the 

 mountains. The male bird is splendidly plumed in 

 white and metallic lustred greenish black, with a superb 

 orange-coloured crest on his head. The female is very 

 different in appearance, and also possesses great beauty, 

 but of another class : the colour of her plumage is more 

 a mahogany, but variegated on the breast and neck like 

 a Pheasant, and she has a fine black comb, or rather 

 crest. They are as good to eat as beautiful to look at, 

 but are very difficult to get near to, as they are ex- 

 tremely shy, and avoid human habitations; but when 

 they are caught young, or hatched under a Hen, they 

 soon become so tame as to be quite troublesome. Pass- 

 ing one day under a clumpy, thick tree, I was startled 

 by a great commotion in the branches, when out flew a 

 fine cock Turkey, which I knocked over with one barrel : 

 the report sent out a hen bird, which shared the same 

 fate from the other barrel. Thinking there might be 

 some young ones, I climbed up the tree, and found 

 a nest with two large eggs in it. The nest was clumsily 

 made, but strongly secured by being placed in the fork 

 of several diverging branches. The eggs were much 

 larger than those of the common Turkey. I took them 

 home and put them under a Hen that wanted to sit, 

 and they almost wore her patience out by sitting so 

 much longer on these than is required on Hen's eggs, 

 not to mention her being run away with one night by 

 an Opossum. But her patience was at length rewarded 

 by the appearance of two fine Turkeys. [Query, how 

 did she manage to hatch the eggs after she was run 

 away with by the Opossum ?] 



" These birds were never touched by our own Dogs, 

 or by those belonging to Indians accustomed to call at 

 the ranchos ; but a stranger arrived one day, and his 



