22 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
he is by no means as quarrelsome as his feral congener, 
the latter being one of the most pugnacious of creatures. 
It was probably on this account that Benjamin Frank- 
lin considered that the turkey, and not the eagle, ought 
to have been selected as the emblem of the United States, 
for, besides being a true native of America, he considered 
that it was also a more useful animal than the monarch 
of the air, and, though somewhat vain and silly, that it 
had the courage to face a grenadier of the British Guards 
if he entered the farm-yard with a red coat on his back. 
The wild bird would not, however, attack a child who 
displayed that disagreeable hue, as it is too much afraid of 
enemies to attack anything having the semblance of man- 
kind. It is so wary that it is very difficult of approach in 
the daytime, but, by watching its movements, it may be 
caught on its perch on moonlight nights. It generally 
roosts high up on the trees, and, if the flocks are to- 
gether, a dozen or two may be found on one tree. Like 
all the gallinaceous birds of the American Continent, it 
fancies itself secure when once it gets amidst the foliage, 
and may remain on its perch even when its deadliest foe 
is walking beneath. It is said that a flock can be killed 
on a roost, if the lower ones are shot first, but I have 
never seen this done, though I have seen five bagged 
before the remainder decided to seek safety in flight. 
Notwithstanding the extreme cautiousness and vigi- 
lance of these birds, many are shot annually by men who 
know their habits. The favorite method with experi- 
enced hunters is to lie in ambush and call the males 
towards them by imitating the notes of the female. This 
is done with the mouth, or by making a call out of the 
small bone of a turkey’s wing, or out of brass or wood. 
The number who can call well with the vocal organs 
alone is small indeed, as it requires long practice and a 
close study of the various intonations of the hens to 
imitate them, yet I have known men who could cluck, 
