1 58 [Assembly 



ly upwards and sideways; she stretches forth her neck in every 

 direction, to discover birds of prey or otlier enemies ; her wings 

 are partially spread, and she softly clucks to keep her tender 

 offspring close to her side. They travel slowly at first, and as 

 the hatching generally occurs in the afternoon, they sometimes 

 return to pass the first night in the nest. While very young the 

 mother leads them to elevated dry places, as if aware that low 

 wet ones, during the first few days of their life, would be very 

 dangerous to them, they having then no other protection than a 

 delicate, soft, hairy down. In very rainy seasons wild turkeys 

 are scarce, because when completely wetted, the young rarely 

 survive. At the expiration of about two weeks, the young leave 

 the ground or neighborhood where they were hatched, and rested 

 or slept at night under the female. The time then approaches in 

 which they seek the open ground or prairie land during the day, 

 in search of strawberries, and subsequently dewberries, blackber. 

 ries, and grasshoppers, thns securing a plentiful food, and enjoy- 

 ing the influence of the genial sun. They frequently dust them- 

 selves in shallow cavities of the soil, or on ant hills, in order to 

 clean off the loose skin of their growing feathers, and rid them- 

 selves of tick and other vermin. The young turkeys now grow 

 rapidly, and in the month of August, when several broods flock 

 together and are led by their mothers to the forest, they are stout 

 and quite able to secure themselves from the unexpected attacks 

 of wolves, foxes, wild cats, and even cougars, by rising quickly 

 from the ground, aided by their strong legs,, and reaching with 

 ease the upper limbs of the tallest tree. The large diurnal and 

 nocturnal birds of prey are also much dreaded by the turkey. 

 In most cases, though, he contrives to elude the attacks of these 

 by his remarkable swiftness of foot, aided occasionally by his 

 wings, and his great instinctive sagacity in quickly discovering 

 danger and parrying its thrusts, however artfully made. On 

 hearing the slightest noise, for which they are all on the watch, 

 wild turkies conceal themselves in the grass or among shrubs, and 

 thus frequently escape the hunter and sharp-sighted birds of prey. 

 Wild turkies are very tenacious of their feeding grounds, as well 

 as the trees on which they have once roosted. Flocks have been 

 known to resort to one spot for a succession of years, and to return 



