326 FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



remained with their strange mother until they were 

 nearly grown, sleeping under her wings nights; at this 

 time, they came as usual at her twilight call, instead 

 of going into the coop, they squatted down, bob- white 

 fashion, in a circle, tails toward the center, in front of 

 the coop. Soon after, the "call" of the wild" overcame 

 the teaching of the hen mother, and off they went, to 

 return no more. 



The wild turkey, ancestor of all the domestic turkeys, 

 is now a rare bird in any locality in North America. It 

 has been hunted so persistently that it is nearly exter- 

 minated. It is not much of a credit to the hiiman race, 

 that many animals smaller than man can hope to maintain 

 their existence only by migrating to regions where man 

 cannot follow them. 



The plumage colors of the gallinaceous birds are such 

 that they xisually are safer in hiding than they are in 

 flight. Many of the birds are ground birds, but ^ven 

 those frequenting trees are equally effectively concealed 

 by their mottled plumage. All the members of the 

 order are somewhat omnivorous, able to subsist on 

 seeds, but securing, whenever possible, insects and green 

 vegetation ; and some also relish an occasional meal of 

 flesh. Who has not seen a domestic hen's evident relish 

 of the flesh of a mouse or a mole which some fortunate 

 chance had put in her way? 



