No. 133.] 159 



after a distant emigration in search of food. Their roosting place is 

 mostly on a point of land jutting into a river ^vliere tliere are large 

 trees, and where tliey can seclude themselves more effectually from 

 their enemies. Thie most wily and destructive of these, after all, 

 is man; he avails himself of his reasoning faculties, studies the 

 habits of the wild turkey in a way which no other animal does 

 or can, and whether with tlie gun, the trap, or pen, he makes 

 greater havoc among them, and thins their nunibers faster than 

 all tlie wild animals of the forest together. Audubon and others 

 say, that no position, however secluded ordifhcult of access, can 

 secure them from the attacks of the artful and vigilant liunter, 

 who, when they are all quietly perched for the night, takes a 

 stand previously chosen by daylight, and when the risi]ig moon 

 enables him to take sure aim, shoots them down at leisure, and 

 by carefully singling out those on the lower branches first, he 

 may secure nearly the whole flock. The presence of the hunter, 

 while making this slaughter, nor the report of his gun, seem to 

 frighten the turkies in the least, although the appearance of a 

 single owl or other bird of prey would be suflicient to alarm the 

 whole flock. This fancied security or heedlessness cf danger 

 while at roost, is said to he characteristic of all the gallinacious 

 birds of North America. Pens is another mode of taking them, more 

 common and more destructive, even, than shooting them. These 

 are made of logs, close and large enough to contain almost any 

 number. They are baited by grain of various kinds, though 

 mostly Indian corn, and enticed through an opening left for the 

 purpose, the grain or feed being liberally spread on the floor 

 within, and for some distance outside. One or two leaders will, 

 in this way, sometimes lead in and secure a great many, say a 

 hundred or more. In proportion to the abundance or scarcity of 

 food, and its good or bad quality, they are small or large, meagre, 

 and cf an excellent or indifferent flavor; in general, however, 

 their flesh is much more delicate, more succulent, and better 

 tasted than that of the tame turkey. They are in the best order 

 late in the autumn, or in the beginning of winter. The Indians 

 value this food so highly when roasted, that they call it "the 

 white man's dish," and present it to strangers as the best they 

 can ofler. This shows what the l^idian, the native of the coun- 



