C II. Merr!<iiii — I'.lrils of ('onm i-tlrut. 00 



their loiulcs altoiit nooiu'. I have askc.l tlniii wliat immlicr i lic\ 

 touiid in till' woods, wlio li:n i' ans\vcrc(l iicnit iiiftaw iia, wliii-li is a 

 thousand that day; tho ph'iity oi' thoiii is such in tliosc paits. Thcv 

 are easily killed at rooste, because the one hi'in^- killed, tlic other sit 

 fast uevertlielessi', and this is no had commodity."* I .insley savs : 

 "The last Wild Turkey tliat I have known in Connecticut, was taken 

 by a rehitive of mine, about thirty years since [about l!-!l;t], on 

 Totoket Mountain, in Northtbrd. It was overtaken in a deep snow, 

 and tlu'reby outrnu. It weighed, when dressed, twc-nty-one ]>ounds."f 

 In 1842, Zadock Thoni])son wrote that a few "continue still to visit 

 and breed upon the mountains in the southern part of the Stale"' 

 (Vermont).]: As kite as 1888 it was " frequently met with on Mt. 

 Ilolyoke," but had " become scarce and nearly extinct" in other parts 

 of the State.§ Professor Wm. I). Wliitney once nu:)unted a fine 

 specimen of the Wild Turkey killed on Mt. Tom, Mass., Nov. 1st, 

 1847. It may now be seen in the beautiful case of birds given 1)y 

 Prof. Whitney to the Peabody Museum of Yale College, and is of 

 particular value as being, in all probability, the last of its race seen 

 in that State. In the month of October, " the Turkey Moon of the 

 aborigines," they used to wander far and wide in quest of food, fre- 

 quently assembling in vast numbers in districts where there was an 

 abundance. Audubon tells us that " When they come U])on a river, 

 they betake themselves to the highest eminences, and there often 

 remain a whole day, or sometimes two, as if for the purpose of con- 

 sultation. During this time the males are heard gobling, calling, and 

 making much ado, and are seen sti'utting about, as if to raise their 

 courage to a pitch befitting the emergency. Even the females and 

 young assume something of the same pompous demeanor, sj)read out 

 their tails, and run round each other, pvrring loudly, and ])erforming 

 extravagant leaps. At length, when the weather appears settled, 

 and all round is quiet, the whole i)arty mount to the tops of the 

 highest trees, Avhence, at a signal, consisting of a single c'/w/.-, given 

 by a leader, the flock takes flight for the opposite shore."|| 



Josselyn says "their eggs are very wholesome and restore decayed 

 nature exceedingly. "•[ 



* Reprinted in Force's Historical Tracts, Tract 5, p. 48. 

 t Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. xliv, No. 2, p. 2fi4. April, 184.-?. 

 X History of Vermont, Natural, Civil, and Statistical. By Z. Thompson. ]>. 1 u 1 . 1 S4'J. 

 § See Hitchcock's Report, p. 549. 18:53. 

 II Auduhon's Birds of America, vol. v, p. 43. 

 ^Two Voyages to Now Rnoland. p. 99. HH.'). 



