WILD TURKEY. 9 



key ; innnediately after which the latter drops to the ground, and thus 

 escapes, merely with the loss of a few feathers. 



The Wild Turkeys cannot be said to confine themselves to any parti- 

 cular kind of food, although they seem to prefer the pecan-nut and win- 

 ter-grape to any other, and, where these fruits abound, are found in the 

 greatest numbers. They eat grass and herbs of various kinds, corn, 

 berries, and fruit of all descriptions. I have even found beetles, tad- 

 poles, and small lizards in their crops. 



Turkeys are now generally extremely shy, and the moment they ob- 

 serve a man, whether of the red or white race, instinctively move from 

 him. Their usual mode of progression is what is termed walking, du- 

 ring which they frequently open each wing partially and successively, re- 

 placing them again by folding them over each other, as if their weight 

 were too great. Then, as if to amuse themselves, they will run a few 

 steps, open both wings and fan their sides, in the manner of the common 

 fowl, and often take two or three leaps in the air and shake themselves. 

 Whilst searching for food among the leaves or loose soil, they keep their 

 head up, and are unremittingly on the lookout ; but as the legs and feet 

 finish the operation, they are immediately seen to pick up the food, the 

 presence of which, I suspect, is frequently indicated to them through the 

 sense of touch in their feet, during the act of scratching. This habit of 

 scratching and removing the dried leaves in the woods, is pernicious to 

 their safety, as the spots which they thus clear, being about two feet in 

 diameter, are seen at a distance, and, if fresh, shew that the birds are in 

 the vicinity. During the summer months they resort to the paths or 

 roads, as well as the ploughed fields, for the purpose of rolling them- 

 selves in the dust, by which means they clear their bodies of the ticks 

 which at that season infest them, as well as free themselves of the mos- 

 chettoes, which greatly annoy them, by biting their heads. 



When, after a heavy fall of snow, the weather becomes frosty, so as to 

 form a hard crust on the surface, the Turkeys remain on their roosts for 

 three or four days, sometimes much longer, which proves their capability 

 of continued abstinence. When near farms, however, they leave the 

 roosts, and go into the very stables and about the stacks of corn, to pro- 

 cure food. During melting snow-falls, they will travel to an extraordi- 

 nary distance, and are then followed in vain, it being impossible for 

 hunters of any description to keep up with them. They have then a 

 dangling and straggling way of rumiing, which, awkward as it may seem. 



