AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



earth, — while it is a fact fully admitted, that this bird is 

 the origin whence sprung the whole domestic race of Tur- 

 keys now scattered over almost every country. 



The Wild Turkey is strictly a native of North Ame- 

 rica, having its range from the isthmus of Darien on the 

 south, to the fiftieth degree north, — and east and west, the 

 Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. No indivi- 

 dual of the species has ever been seen south of Panama, 

 and it is utterly unknown beyond Lake Superior. There 

 is no good reason, however, that its western range should 

 be limited to the Rocky Mountains, as the country and 

 climate beyond them, warrant the conclusion, that these 

 birds exist even to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. In 

 the north Atlantic states, Turkeys have become very 

 scarce, but in the south and west they are exceedingly plen- 

 tiful. In Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, 

 many may at all times be found; but in every state west 

 of these, multitudes of these magnificent birds are conti- 

 nually roaming the fields and forests. Some Turkeys still 

 exist in the inaccessible hills of New-Jersey and New- 

 York, but are to be found in greater numbers among the 

 mountains of Pennsylvania. 



It is not precisely known at what period the Turkey 

 was first introduced into Europe; but from the years 1525 

 to 1530, the earliest mention is made of this bird, — while 

 from that period to the present, its increase has been won- 

 derfully rapid, until it has now become an inhabitant of 

 almost every poultry-yard, and is regarded as a standing 

 dish at all festivals, and tables of hotels and private fami- 

 lies. 



Many attempts have been made to introduce the Wild 

 Turkey, in its native state, on several preserves of game 

 in Europe, — but with the exception of one or two in- 

 stances in England, they have not succeeded. 



So greatly was the Turkey esteemed in Europe shortly 

 after its introduction, that "in the year 1566, a present 

 of twelve Turkeys was thought not unworthy of being 

 offered by the municipality of Amiens to their king, at 

 whose marriage, in 1570, it is stated they were first eaten 

 in France. Heresback asserts that they were introduced 

 into Germany about 1530; and a sumptuary law made at 

 Venice, in 1577, particularizes the tables at which they 

 were permitted to be served." 



"Those who have seen only the domesticated bird, can 

 form but a faint idea of its beauty in a state of nature. 

 When fully grown the male Wild Turkey measures nearly 

 four feet in length, and more than five in the expanse of 

 its wings. Its head, which is very small in proportion to 

 its body, is covered with a naked bluish skin, which is 

 continued over the upper half of its neck. On this skin 

 are placed a number of wart-like elevations, red on the 



D 



upper portion, and whitish below, interspersed with a 

 few scattered blackish hairs. On the under part of the 

 neck the skin is flaccid and membranous, and extends 

 downwards in the shape of large wattles. From the base 

 of the bill, at its junction with the forehead, rises a wrin- 

 kled conical fleshy protuberance, with a pencil of hairs at 

 the tip. This protuberance, when the bird is at rest, does 

 not exceed an inch and a half in length, but on any ex- 

 citement becomes elongated to such an extent as to cover 

 the bill entirely, and to depend below it for several inches. 

 The lower part of the neck, at its junction with the breast, 

 is ornamented by a singular tuft of black rigid hairs, sepa- 

 rating themselves from the feathers, and reaching as much 

 as nine inches in length. The feathers of the body are 

 long and truncated, and, generally speaking, may each be 

 subdivided into four parts. Their base is formed by a 

 light fuliginous down, which is followed by a dusky por- 

 tion. This again is succeeded by a broad shining metallic 

 band, changing to copper-colour or bronze, to violet or 

 purple, according to the incidence of the light; while the 

 tip is formed by a narrow black velvety band, which last 

 is wanting on the neck and breast. From this disposition 

 of the colours results a most beautiful changeable metallic 

 gloss over the whole body of the bird, which is, however, 

 less marked on the lower part of the back and tail-coverts. 



" The wings, which scarcely extend beyond the base of 

 the tail, are concave and rounded. They are furnished 

 with twenty-eight quill-feathers; the primaries are plain 

 blackish banded with white, while the secondaries have 

 the relative extent of these markings so reversed that they 

 may be described as white banded with blackish; and 

 tinged, especially towards the back, with brownish-yellow. 

 The tail measures more than fifteen inches in length, is 

 rounded at the extremity, and consists of eighteen broad 

 feathers, which, when expanded and elevated, assume the 

 form of a fan. It is brown, mottled with black, and 

 crossed by numerous narrow undulating lines of the same; 

 Near the tip is a broad black band, then follows a short 

 mottled portion, and lastly a broad dingy yellowish band. 

 The feet are robust, have blunt spurs about an inch in 

 length, and are of a red colour, with blackish margins to 

 the scales, and claws of the same dusky hue. The bill is 

 reddish, and horn-coloured at the tip; and the irides are 

 dark brown. 



"The female is considerably smaller, not exceeding 

 three feet and a quarter in length. Her bill and legs are 

 less robust, the latter without any rudiment of a spur; and 

 her irides similar to those of the male. Her head and neck 

 are less denuded, being covered by short decomposed fea- 

 thers of a dirty gray. Those of the back of the neck have 

 brownish tips, producing a longitudinal band on that part 



