On Birds observed in Ainielia County , Virginia. 89 



individual does not stay so long, but one band replaces another 

 as they move on. They pass again in larger flocks on their way 

 south, about the middle of October ; but now and then you may 

 see one at any time during the summer. I have been assured 

 by the negroes that they occasionally nest in the district, not in 

 laro-e colonies, but a single pair here and there. I have seen the 

 young quite small, though able to fly, following their parents in 

 Auo-ust ; and a friend of mine has shot them still covered with 

 nestino" down. So probably a pair does sometimes remain. 



Zenaiduea carolinensis (Bonap.) Carolina Dove. — They 

 remain the whole year. In spiking they are often extremely tame 

 where not molested, and all day long their cooing is heard in the 

 woods, but in autumn, when they pack in flocks, they are often 

 difficult to approach. I think they are perhaps not so numerous 

 durino- the colder months of winter as at other times of the year, 

 and perhaps a partial migration may take place to some extent. 



Mkleagris gallop avo (Linn.) Wild Turkey. — This fine bird 

 is still not uncommon in the district, although becoming scarce 

 in most parts of Yirginia, where it is not altogether extinct. 

 The hens generally weigh from eight to ten pounds, and the 

 goblers when full grown, seventeen pounds. Tlie largest I ever 

 shot weighed twenty pounds, and the largest I have known was 

 twenty-three. The males gobble vigorously in March and part 

 of April, and are then often shot by calling them up, by imitating 

 the note of the hen upon an instrument (know as a " yelper "), 

 made from the radius of the hen — that bone in the gobler not 

 giving so correct a note — as a mouth piece, and a trumpet-shaped 

 piece, generally made of wood. This, however, is now illegal, as 

 it can only be practised in the close season. 



Turkeys are generally now hunted with dogs, trained to rush into 

 the flock as soon as discovered, and scatter them in all directions, 

 when they should bark to let the sportsman know that the game 

 has been found. After a while the turkeys will call each other, 

 and assemble together, seeking as a rendezvous, the spot from 

 which they were scattered. Near this place the sportsman builds 

 a blind, of logs or bushes, and awaits the turkeys return, calling 

 now and then with his " yelper." The time he may have to wait 

 varies with the extent to which the turkeys have been previously 

 hunted, and with the hour of the day, as when evening is 



