118 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



they were most abundant where there was much mast, mig-rating considerable 

 distances, but in tliis case only governed by food supply. I have seen them 

 freely eating- mesquite beans when they fall in the late summer, and pecan 

 nuts are also a favorite food. They also feed on grasshoppers and other 

 insects during April and May, running after them in the same manner as the 

 Chaparral Cock." 



They are summer residents in the higher mountain ranges, reaching an 

 altitude from 8,000 to 10,000 feet, and retiring to the more sheltered canons 

 and the timbered river valleys in the late fall, congregating at such times in 

 large flocks. 



The number of eggs to a set varies from eight to fourteen, rarely more ; 

 eleven or twelve are about the average number. 



That well-known ornithologist and collector, Mr. F. Stephens, took a prob- 

 ably incomplete set of nine fresh eggs of this species, on June 15, 1884. He 

 writes me: "I was encamped about 5 miles south of Craterville, on the east 

 side of the Santa Rita Mountains in Arizona; the nest was shown to my 

 assistant by a charcoal burner. On his approach to it the bird ran ofiF or 

 flew before he got within good range. He did not disturb it but came to 

 camp, and in the afternoon we both went, and I took my little camera along 

 and photographed it. The bird did not show up again. The locality was 

 on the east slope of the Santa Rita Mountains, in the oak timber, just where 

 the first scattering pines commenced, at an altitude of perhaps 5,000 feet." 



A good photograph, kindly sent me by Mr. Stephens, shows the nest and 

 eggs plainly. It was placed close to the trunk of an oak tree on a hillside, 

 near which a good-sized yucca grew, covering, apparently, a part of the nest; 

 the hollow in Avhich the eggs were placed was about 12 inches across and 3 

 inches deep. Judging from the photograph the nest was fairly well lined. 



Capt. B. F. Goss found a nest of this subspecies, on May 9, 1882, in soulh- 

 ern Texag, containing eleven eggs. He states: "It was as usual on the ground, 

 in open, bushy country. A coarse structure, not very deeply excavated, lined 

 with grass, weeds, and leaves, placed in quite an open situation, but well 

 concealed by a few small bushes and bunches of growing grass. 



"We were encamped quite near the nest; one morning I noticed a hen 

 Turkey stealing through the bushes, and suspected she was going to her nest. 

 We watched her carefully for three mornings, and having pretty nearly located 

 the nest, commenced a close search, and examined, as we thought, every inch 

 of ground. I was about giving up, when looking down almost at my feet, I 

 saw the bird sitting on the nest. She at once ran; she had allowed me to 

 pass several times within a foot of her without moving, and seemed to know 

 at once when she was seen. I have often noticed this trait in birds of this 

 genus; as long as unseen you can tramp all around them, but they seem to 

 know at once when they are seen, and lose no time in getting away." 



The Mexican Turkey, like the eastern subspecies, is polygamous, and the 

 female attends exclusively to the duties of incubation, wliich lasts about four 



