﻿380 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Length: 
  male 
  48-50 
  inches; 
  female 
  36; 
  weight: 
  male 
  16-30, 
  or 
  even 
  

   40-45 
  pounds; 
  female 
  12 
  pounds. 
  

  

  Wild 
  turkeys 
  formerh' 
  inhabited 
  eastern 
  North 
  America 
  from 
  Maine, 
  

   Ontario, 
  and 
  Dakota 
  to 
  the 
  gulf 
  coast, 
  but 
  have 
  long 
  since 
  disappeared 
  

   from 
  New 
  England 
  and 
  New 
  York. 
  A 
  few 
  remained 
  in 
  Clinton, 
  Fulton 
  

   and 
  Keating 
  counties, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  until 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  19th 
  century. 
  

   These 
  are 
  the 
  nearest 
  native 
  wild 
  turkeys 
  we 
  have 
  at 
  present. 
  In 
  1 
  844, 
  accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  DeKay, 
  they 
  still 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  Sullivan, 
  Rockland, 
  Orange, 
  Allegany 
  

   and 
  Cattaraugus 
  counties 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  State, 
  but 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  destroyed 
  

   soon 
  thereafter 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  find 
  no 
  subsequent 
  records 
  for 
  the 
  State. 
  In 
  colonial 
  

   times 
  they 
  were 
  common 
  in 
  New 
  York. 
  DeVries, 
  in 
  the 
  journal 
  of 
  his 
  

   voyages 
  to 
  New 
  Netherlands, 
  frequently 
  speaks 
  of 
  them, 
  and 
  mentions 
  

   shooting 
  one 
  near 
  New 
  Amsterdam 
  which 
  weighed 
  30 
  pounds. 
  In 
  1641, 
  

   at 
  Fort 
  Orange 
  (Albany), 
  there 
  were 
  "so 
  many 
  turkeys 
  that 
  they 
  came 
  to 
  

   the 
  houses 
  and 
  hogpens 
  to 
  feed" 
  [Rev. 
  J. 
  Megapolensis, 
  Munsell, 
  Annals 
  

   of 
  Albany, 
  9: 
  133; 
  also 
  N. 
  Y. 
  Hist. 
  Soc. 
  Col. 
  Ser. 
  2, 
  3, 
  150]. 
  

  

  Order 
  COLUNIBAE 
  

  

  Pigeons 
  

  

  Head 
  small, 
  no 
  frontal 
  antiae, 
  but 
  the 
  frontal 
  feathers 
  forming 
  an 
  

   abruptly 
  convex 
  outline 
  at 
  base 
  of 
  bill; 
  neck 
  short; 
  bill 
  horny 
  at 
  tip, 
  com- 
  

   pressed 
  with 
  a 
  tumid 
  swelling 
  near 
  the 
  base 
  about 
  the 
  nostril 
  ; 
  wings 
  pointed, 
  

   flat, 
  powerful, 
  with 
  rapid, 
  whistling 
  flight 
  ; 
  legs 
  short, 
  the 
  tarsus 
  scutellate 
  

   or 
  feathered 
  on 
  point; 
  no 
  plumes; 
  feathers 
  loosely 
  inserted; 
  body 
  plump, 
  

   full 
  breasted; 
  front 
  toes 
  cleft, 
  rear 
  toe 
  insistent, 
  hence 
  better 
  perchers 
  than 
  

   Gallinae 
  and 
  more 
  arboreal 
  in 
  habits; 
  plumage 
  without 
  aftershafts, 
  oil 
  

   gland 
  bare 
  or 
  wanting; 
  gall 
  bladder 
  usually 
  wanting; 
  coeca 
  small 
  or 
  want- 
  

   ing; 
  two 
  carotids; 
  crop 
  large, 
  secreting 
  a 
  milky 
  fluid 
  to 
  aid 
  in 
  nurturing 
  

   the 
  young; 
  gizzard 
  muscular; 
  palate 
  schizognathous; 
  nasals 
  schizorhinal 
  ; 
  

   basipterygoids 
  present; 
  sternum 
  doubly 
  notched, 
  or 
  notched 
  and 
  windowed 
  

   on 
  each 
  side; 
  humerus 
  with 
  strong 
  pectoral 
  ridge; 
  femorocaudal 
  and 
  its 
  

   accessory, 
  semitendinosus 
  and 
  its 
  accessory, 
  and 
  normally 
  the 
  ambiens, 
  

   all 
  present. 
  Pigeons 
  walk 
  with 
  a 
  peculiar 
  motion 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  and 
  neck 
  

   in 
  unison 
  with 
  their 
  footsteps 
  ; 
  their 
  notes 
  are 
  a 
  plaintive 
  cooing 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  

   famously 
  monogamous, 
  the 
  male 
  sharing 
  the 
  care 
  of 
  the 
  young. 
  The' 
  nest 
  

   is 
  a 
  wide, 
  fiat 
  structure, 
  the 
  eggs 
  two, 
  white 
  and 
  nearly 
  elliptical 
  in 
  shape. 
  

   The 
  young 
  are 
  altricial 
  and 
  ptilopaedic. 
  

  

  