200 
NEW-YORK FAUNA-BIRDS. 
Description. Nostrils oblique, linear. A pendulous tuft of hairs on the breast. Tail 
rather long and rounded. 
Color. Above varying from deep black to yellowish brown, with a metallic lustre ; the 
lower part of the back and tail-coverts deep chesnut, banded with greenish and black. Belly 
and thighs brownish grey. Legs reddish or flesh-colored. Female, smaller, and the plumage 
more dull; the tuft on the breast only apparent in old birds. Young, brownish yellow above, 
varied with dusky ; clay-colored beneath. 
Length, 42'0-50'0. Alar spread, 60 0 - 70-0. 
The Wild Turkey is a species peculiar to North America. It was sent to Europe about 
twenty years after the discovery of this country. Here the domesticated and the wild are 
frequently mingled together, and produce a highly prized variety, scarcely inferior to the 
Wild Turkey in the metallic brilliancy of its tints. In its wild state, the Turkey feeds on 
beech-nuts, acorns, berries and grass, and likewise on beetles and tadpoles. It lays from 
ten to twelve eggs. The Wild Turkey may be said to be a resident from Mexico to Canada, 
making irregular migrations from one place to another in search of food. It has, however, 
almost entirely disappeared from the Atlantic States. A few are yet found about Mount Holy¬ 
oke in Massachusetts, and in Sussex county in New-Jersey. I have not met with them in this 
State, where they were once exceedingly numerous, but as I am well informed, are now only 
found in the counties of Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, Allegany and Cattaraugus. Van der 
Donck,* who describes this State as it appeared at its first settlement by Europeans, states, 
that “ the most important fowl of the country is the Wild Turkey. They resemble the tame 
Turkey of the Netherlands. These birds are common in the woods all over the country, and 
are found in large flocks, from twenty to forty in a flock. They are large, heavy, fat and fine, 
weighing from twenty to thirty pounds each, and I have heard of one that weighed thirty-two 
pounds. They are best in the fall of the year, when the Indians will sell a turkey for ten 
stivers, and with the Christians the price is a daelder each. They are caught with dogs in 
the snow, but the greatest number are shot at night from the trees. The Indians take many 
in snares when the weather changes in winter. Then they lay bulbous roots, which the tur- 
kies are fond of, in the small rills and streams of water, which the birds take up ; when they 
are ensnared and held, until the artful Indian takes the turkey as his prize.” 
"Description of the New Netherlands. Amsterdam, 1656. (N. Y. Hist. Soc, Collections , Vol. 1, new series.) 
