No. 133.] 153 



in its results, it is sure, ultimately, to effect the destruction of 

 botli. The one tries to get beyond its reach by travelling, and 

 taking up his residence in the distant and uninhabited wilderness, 

 and the other flees to the deepest recesses of the remote forest 

 for preservation. 



To give a good history of the wild turkey, it is necessary to 

 consult several authors of the highest reputation on the birds of 

 our country; among these, Audubon, Wilson and Bonaparte, and 

 NuttalFs Ornithology of America and the United States, with 

 some others. The authors here named stand highest, and may 

 be safely relied on — they have all resided many years in the 

 United States, and travelled over a large portion of our continent 

 to enable them to give the most accurate history of its birds — 

 and especially Audubon. This gentleman studied most assidu- 

 ously his subject for more than twenty years, and that in the only 

 book free from, error and contradictions, the great book of nature. 

 His observations, principally made in the western, south and 

 south-western and north-western States, enable us in consequence 

 to enrich the present article with several new details of the man- 

 ners and habits of the wild turkey. The wooded parts of Arkan- 

 sas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama ; the unsettled portions 

 of the States of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois ; the vast 

 expanse of territory south-west and north-west of these States, on 

 the Mississippi and Missouri, as far as the forests extend, are 

 more abundantly supplied than any other parts of the Union with 

 this valuable game, and forms so important a part of the subsist- 

 ence of the hunter and traveller in the wilderness. It is not 

 probable that the range of this bird extends to or beyond the 

 rocky mountains. The Mandan Indians, who a few years ago 

 visited the city of Washington, considered the turkey as one of 

 the greatest curiosities they had seen, and prepared a skin of one 

 to carry home for exhibition. Still this bird may be found there 

 in time, as it is a very extensive country, and as yet a large por- 

 tion of it very imperfectly explored; or it may travel and flourish 

 there, as the climate, soil, and products of many parts of both 

 sections, east and west of the mountains, are very similar. The 

 wild turkey is not very plenty in Florida, Georgia, and the Caro- 

 linas; is still less frequently found in the western parts of Virgi- 



