216 WILD SPORTS IN THE FAR WEST. 



sport with the turkeys, rising before daybreak, station- 

 ing myself near their roost, and remaining quite still 

 till early dawn, then imitating the voice of the night- 

 owl. The indignant turkey begins to gobble Avith 

 great force, and betrays his whereabouts ; by creeping 

 noiselessly near his perch, he may be easily knocked over 

 before broad daylight. If the day should be too far 

 advanced for the sportsman to gain upon him unper- 

 ceived, he must crouch behind a fallen tree, or other 

 cover, and use a decoy-pipe, made from the second bone 

 of the hen turkey's wing, split a little on both sides. 

 One end of this he applies to his mouth, keeping the 

 other end in the hollow of his hands. As soon as 

 the cock hears it, he flies down, gobbling furiously, and 

 struts towards the sound, with his wings trailing along 

 the ground, his comb and wattles in full bloom, and 

 his tail spread out. He sometimes will come so near 

 that the sportsman is obliged to give a short whistle to 

 check him, because it is very difRcult to hit him in the 

 right place with a single ball when his feathers are aU 

 ruffled. On hearing the whistle he pulls up short, 

 looks round suspiciously, and utters a warning K-t-t-t. 

 Now fire, or good-by turkey. This sport was so 

 attractive, that I hardly let a morning pass without 

 bringing home a turkey ; but it was long before I was 

 perfect in my practice, and I lost many a shot by a false 

 note, or heedless noise. 



At the end of two months, Kean arrived early one 

 morning with the news that Rutkin's and Haller's 

 families were in a large flat-bottomed boat, at the 

 mouth of the Fourche le Fave. Haller took the boat 

 immediately to join them, leaving Kean with me. 



