WILD TURKEY. 15 



At the time when I removed to Kentucky, rather more than a fourth 

 of a century ago, Turkeys were so abundant, that the price of one in the 

 market was not equal to that of a common barn-fowl now. I have seen 

 them offered for the sum of three pence each, the birds weighing from 

 ten to twelve pounds. A first-rate Turkey, weighing from twenty-five 

 to thirty pounds avoirdupois, Avas considered well sold when it brought 

 a quarter of a dollar. 



The weight of Turkey hens generally averages about nine pounds 

 avoirdupois. I have, however, shot barren hens in strawberry season, 

 that weighed thirteen pounds, and have seen a few so fat as to burst open 

 on falling from a tree when shot. Male Turkeys differ more in their bulk 

 and weight. From fifteen to eighteen pounds may be a fair estimate of 

 their ordinary weight. I saw one offered for sale in the Louisville mar- 

 ket, that weighed thirty-six pounds. Its pectoral appendage measured 

 upwards of a foot. . 



Some closet naturalists suppose the hen Turkey to be destitute of the 

 appendage on the breast, but this is not the case in the full-grown bird. 

 The young males, as I have said, at the approach of the first winter, have 

 merely a kind of protuberance in the flesh at this part, while the young 

 females of the same age have no such appearance. The second year, the 

 males are to be distinguished by the hairy tuft, which is about four 

 inches long, whereas in the females that are not barren, it is yet hardly ap- 

 parent. The third year, the male Turkey may be said to be adult, al- 

 though it certainly increases in weight and size for several years more. 

 The females at the age of four are in full beauty, and have the pectoral 

 appendage four or five inches long, but thinner than in the male. The 

 barren hens do not acquire it until they are very old. 1 he experienced 

 hunter knows them at once in the flock, and shoots them by preference. 

 The great number of young hens destitute of the appendage in question, 

 has doubtless given rise to the idea that it is wanting in the female 

 Turkey. 



The long downy double feathers * about the thighs and on the lower 

 parts of the sides of the Wild Turkey, are often used for making tippets. 



" The peculiarities in the structure of the plumage of different species of birds might, 

 if duly attended to, prove of essential service to the systematic ornithologist, as conducing, 

 along witli other circ\imstances, to the elucidation of the natural affinities of bu-ds. On 

 this subject, I would refer the system-makers to the valuable observations of Mr Mac- 

 GILI.IVRAY in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for lfs28. 



