MELEAGRID-E — THE TURKEYS. 409 



Turkeys are hunted in various ways iintl by diflercnt expedients to facili- 

 tate tlieir destruction. In the spring they are attracted by drawing the air, in 

 a peculiar manner, through one of the second joint-bones of a wing. The 

 sound thus imxlucod r(!send)k's tlie voice of tiie female, on hearing whicli 

 the male comes up and is siiot. Tlie cry of the Darrcd Owl is also imitated 

 at night where Turi<eys are at roost, wiio betray tlie jdace by their rolling 

 gol)ble, uttered when alarmed. One of the most common methods of captur- 

 ing Wild Turkeys is by means of a trap known as a Turkey-pen. A cov- 

 ered ench)sure is made, constructed of trees, about four feet liigh and of Aari- 

 ous sizes, closed everywhere except at one end, where a small opening is left 

 through wliich a snudl trench is dug, slo])ing very gradually at both ends, 

 into and from tlie pen. The portion nearest the enclosure is covered. This 

 passage-way, the interior of the pen, and the vicinitj'^ of the oiieiiiug, to 

 some distance into the forest, are strewn with corn. The Turkeys, attracted 

 by the corn, follow it into the pen, and when tliey wish to leave endeavor 

 to get out by the sides, but have not iiitelligeiico enough to escape by the 

 openirg through whicli they entered. In this manner they are sometimes 

 entrai)ped in great numbers. 



In unsettled parts of the country, AVild Turkeys are often known to 

 associate with tame ones, sometimes to fight with tlieiii and to drive them 

 from <^lieir food. 



Air. Audubon su])posed our common tame Turkey to liave originated in 

 these birds, yet in his accounts of the liabits of the latter he luentioiis sev 

 eral indications of divergence. A Wild Turkey wliich he had rcfared almost 

 from the shell, and which had become very tame, wouhl never roost with the 

 domesticated birds, but always betook itself at night to the roof of ti:e house, 

 where it remained until dawn. 



Mr. l}aclinian states that Wild Turkeys kept in confinement, in a condi- 

 tion of partial domestication, but separate from the domestic birds, lose the 

 brilliancy of their plumage in the third generation, become of a pale brown, 

 and have here and there an iiitermi.xture of white feathers. On the other 

 hand, Major Leconte states, most positively, that the Wild Turkey has never 

 been known to become so nearly domesticated as to jjropagate its race in 

 confmement, notwithstanding the many efforts made to accomplish this re- 

 sult. This statement is, however, negative, and must be taken with reserva- 

 tion. In IH.j^, in Mr. IJarnum's grounds, near Niagara Falls, I saw AVihl 

 Turkeys with broods of young l)irds, though how far successful this atteiuiil. 

 proved in the se(iuel I do not know, and Dr. ]>aclinian's statement se-nns to 

 be quite jiositive evidence that they can be thus reared. 



Mr. Audubon describes the eggs of the Wikl Turkey as measuring 2.87 

 inches in length and U.(K) in breadth, and rather pointed at one end; their 

 grouud-coh)r is given as of a uniform pale-yellowish tint, marked all over 

 with ])ale rusty-brown spots. 



Specimens in my collection vary from 2.55 to 2.'M> inches in length, and 



vol,. MI. r)2 



