182 Animal Life 
The turkey is a polygamist, 
fights furiously with rival males, and 
is apparently fully conscious of the 
great beauty of his dark metallic 
plumage. The effect of this is 
further enhanced by the bare crimson- 
coloured skin of the head and neck 
and the curious finger-like appendage 
which depends from the forehead. 
When endeavouring to win the regard 
of his harem the turkey inflates this 
appendage, while at the same time the 
vivid red of the bare skin becomes 
intensified. At this time, too, a 
certain peculiarly pompous air is 
assumed, the bird struttmeg about 
with its feathers set on end, the TORRNOT DWI. 
wings drooped, and the great wheel- 
shaped tail spread to its fullest extent. All this no doubt vastly impresses those for 
whom the display is made! 
With the rearimg of the family the cock will have nothing to do, nor will he 
take any share even in the brooding of the eggs. The young, lke those of all 
young game-birds, rapidly acquire the power of flight, the wing-quills appearing within 
a few hours after birth. 
There seems to be a certain fixity of character about the turkey, masmuch as the 
breeder has only succeeded im producing about five strains, of which the American 
Bronze is perhaps the most celebrated, and the White the most beautiful. The most 
remarkable feature of these domesticated birds is their greatly increased weight. <A 
cock of the American bronze breed may weigh as much as 45 lbs., whereas no wild 
turkey probably ever exceeds a weight 
of 30 lbs. 
What is the origin of the name 
“Turkey” is a question frequently asked, 
but as yet no definite answer is forth- 
coming. Certainly the bird has nothing 
to do with Turkey, having come from 
the New World. Originally it would 
seem this word was used for the guinea- 
fowl; but the writers of the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries confounding 
these two, the name ultimately attached 
itself to the better-known bird, perhaps, 
suggests Professor Newton, because of 
its call-note, “ deh. “take,” “* turk? 
That the domestic goose is de- 
scended from the wild Grey-Lag Goose, 
a bird of exceedingly wide range in the 
Old World, and once common in this 
: country, there can be no doubt. In 
HELO GSE what quarter of its range it first be- 
A WHITE TURKEY. came domesticated by man is unknown, 
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Photograph by 
