An Old Acquaintance. 243 
reversions to our once familiar Eastern bird have been known 
to occur, which would necessarily have been the case had 
they been so closely related as was once maintained. 
Meleagris Mexicana affects sparsely-overgrown savannas, 
and occupies in Mexico the region of the oaks and the coast 
—the terra cahente of geographers. It is a very wary bird, 
and lives in families. Insects of divers kinds, but chiefly of 
a coleopterous character, as well as the seeds of grasses, 
constitute its bill of fare. When searching for food, espe- 
cially in perilous localities, a sentinel is stationed on the out- 
skirts of the flock, whose duty it is to announce the presence 
of danger. Flight is seldom resorted to at such times, for 
these birds, being fleeter of foot than the swiftest dog, are 
able to escape their enemies by running. 
Toward the close of March, or in the beginning of April, 
the hens separate from the males, and seek for themselves 
nesting-places in secluded localities. The nest is anything 
but an elaborate affair, consisting of a few dry leaves or 
grasses scratched into a depression by the side of a pros- 
trate log. Here the eggs—twelve beautiful, oval, speckled 
treasures—are laid, and for thirty long, weary days and 
nights they are sat upon by their author in her efforts to 
warm them into life. When she leaves them, which she does 
a short time each day for food, she always takes the neces- 
sary precaution to cover them with leaves, as a protection 
against cold and intrusion. Nothing will tempt her to quit 
the nest when the young are about to be hatched. So ab- 
sorbed does she then become that she has been known to 
submit to capture rather than endanger the lives of her off- 
spring. 
No human mother manifests deeper affection for her chil- 
dren than does this bird of the prairie for hers. She fondles 
and dries them after they have escaped from their prison- 
houses, and tenderly helps them out of the nest. It is now 
that her cares may be said to commence. Where their in- 
terest and well-being are concerned, hardly any responsibility 
