68 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIII 



Out of the thirty-eight species of mammals which 

 possibly once constituted the mammalian fauna of 

 the country in the neighborhood of the Roebuck 

 site, we now know definitely that eighteen species 

 were represented in prehistoric times. Six out of 

 seven of the species and one doubtful species would 

 be known only from archaeological or historical 

 evidences. 



It will at once be apparent how important our 

 archaeological evidence would be if we had no 

 historical evidence of the existence of these mam- 

 mals, and especially after the lapse of another fifty 

 or a hundred years, when many, if not most of the 

 species, still found in the neighborhood, will have 

 disappeared. 



PREHISTORIC RANGE OF THE WILD TURKEY. 

 I will now endeavor to show by means of certain 

 examples how archaeological evidence can be util- 

 ized to show the prehistoric distribution of certain 

 species of animals. I have selected the wild turkey 

 because it seems to have been one of the most im- 

 portant food birds wherever it was abundant. In 

 two Ohio sites, explored by Mr. W. C. Mills,'"' 

 for example, turkey bones constituted as much as 

 eighty per cent of all the bird bones found. Al- 

 most everywhere, too, where the bird existed, the 

 bones have teen made into various implements and 

 ornaments, the tarsometatarsus being the favorite 

 bone for awls or bodkins. I have admitted such 

 artifacts as evidence of its presence, although there 

 is a slight danger here that when such artifacts are 

 few in number they may have been brought from 

 elsewhere. 



Of the original turkey, the Meleagris gallopavo 

 of Linnaeus, there are now four recognized var- 

 ieties, as follows: — 



Meleagris gallopavo silvestris Viellot. Wild Turkey. 

 Range — Eastern United States from Nebraska, 

 Kansas, Western Oklahoma, and eastern Texas, 

 east to central Pennslyvania; formerly north to 

 South Dakota, southern Ontario and southern 

 Maine. 



Meleagris gallopavo merriami Nelson. Merriam's 

 Turkey. 

 Range. — Transition and Upper Sonoran zones 

 in the mountains of southern Colorado, New Mexico, 

 Arizona, western Texas, northern Sonora, and 

 Chihuahua. 



Meleagris gallopavo osceola Scott. Florida Turkey. 

 Range. — Southern Florida. 



:i'"F!xplorations of thtt Garlrn r Mu\iiiil ami \'il- 

 lagt- Site, ' (Reprint from tiie Ohio ArchaeoloKical 

 ami Historical QuarK^rly. Vol. XIII, Si>. L'>; (Cnl- 

 umbu.s, I'JOl), p. 32; and "Kxjtlorations of tlie Baum 

 Villag«i Site (Kftprint, Iblfl.. Vol. XV, No. 1), 1!)06, 

 p. -.'A. 



Meleagris gallopavo intermedia Sennett. Rio Grande 

 Turkey. 



Range. — Middle northern Texas south to north- 

 eastern Coahuila, Uuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. ''' 

 Tliird ed.. Revised (New Yorlc, 1910), pp. 145-146. 



As may be seen from the map these varieties are 

 found distributed over a considerable area in 

 North America. 



In Canada its habitat was limited to the south- 

 western part of Ontario, and it was fairly abundant 

 in the days of pioneer settlement. Mr. C. W. 

 Nash, Biologist of the Provincial Museum, Tor- 

 onto, in a letter to the writer states that so far as 

 he has been able to discover the range of the Wild 

 Turkey "was confined to that part of the province 

 south of a line drawn from the corner of Lambton 

 county to Hamilton. It may have occasionally 

 wandered a little north of that m some places, but 

 not far. East of the county of Wentworth I have 

 never heard of it." According to Macoun's Cata- 

 logue of Canadian Birds, the late Dr. Brcdie said, 

 "that many years ago (between 1840 and 1850), 

 a well-known and reliable hunter saw a flock on 

 the west side of Yonge street, in the township of 

 Whitchurch, near Toronto, Ontario."-'' Arch- 

 aeological evidence, seemmgly confirmatory of the 

 prehistoric presence of the bird in this very town- 

 ship, has been discovered by Dr. Brodie,''** so it is 

 altogether probable that the turkeys seen by Dr. 

 Brodie's hunter informant were not stragglers but 

 permanent residents of that part of York county. 



It would be interesting to know just where and 

 when the wild turkey first entered Canada, but, of 

 course, this would necessarily be pure guess work. 

 We know from archaeological evidence, however, 

 that the bird was in Ontario and probably fairly 

 abundant three, four, or perhaps even five centuries 

 ago. Perhaps then, as when the bird was first 

 seen by whites, adverse climatic conditions pre- 

 vented the migration of the bird farther north and 

 east. This is singular when we consider that the 

 domesticated turkey, although mostly housed dur- 

 ing part of our severe northern wmters, seems to 

 thrive far north of the limits reached by its wild 

 congener. 



In Wisconsin the wild turkey is known to have 

 ranged as far north as Green bay, but in all this 

 region its bones do not appear to have been found. 

 Perhaps the bird bed spread there only a short 

 time before the arrival of the whites. Carver (circa 

 1766-1768) saw "great plenty" of them near Lake 



3i!A. I), r. Cliicklisl of Nortli American Birds, 

 .■nMnc()\ni. .John ami .lame.s M., Catalogue of 



Canadian iiird.s ( I Jepaitnient of Mines, Geological 



Suivey Braiicli, Ottawa, lliO'.i), )). 2:!4. 



■■!N|'.rt)die, Dr. VVilliain, .\iiinial lieinains Found 



1)11 Indian \'illaKe Kites, Annual Archaeological Re- 



iMiri. I'.ioi fontario), p. W 



