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XEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Some naturalists, however, think that these two forms should be 

 ranked only as well marked geographical races. However this may- 

 be, the case deserves notice because in the United States wild male 

 turkeys sometimes court the domestic hens, which are descended from 

 the Mexican form, and are generally received by them with great 

 pleasure. Several accounts have likewise been published of young, 



Fig. 31 Superior aspect of a skull of a wild turkey, M. g. merriami 



Fig. 32 The same view of a skull of the domesticated turkey. Both natural size. 



Drawn from adult specimens by the author, and mandibles removed in each case. 



pmx, premaxillary; pi, palatine; nix, maxillary; I, lacrymal; f, frontal; mxp, maxillo- 



palatine; n, nasal; eth, ethmoid; ju, jugal; qj, quadratojugal; q, quadrate; so, supraoccip- 



ital; sq, squamosal; pf, postfrontal process. 



reared in the United States from the eggs of the wild species, cross- 

 ing and commingling with the common breed. In England, also, 

 this same species has been kept in several parks ; from two of which 

 the Rev. W. D. Fox procured birds, and they crossed freely with 

 the common domestic kind, and during many years afterward, as 

 he informs me, the turkeys in his neighborhood clearly showed 



