The tame turkey -hen is notorious for stealing 

 her nest. The wild hen steals hers— not to ex- 

 asperate her owner, of course, as is the common 

 belief aboat the domestic turkey, but to get 

 away from the gobbler, who, in order to prolong 

 the honeymoon, will break the eggs as fast as 

 they are laid. He would lay him down and 

 die, almost, for female adoration. He has just 

 enough brains to be sentimental, jealous, and 

 boundlessly fond of himself. His wives, too, 

 are fools enough to worship him, until— there 

 comes an egg. That event makes them wise. 

 They understand this strutting coxcomb, and 

 quietly turning their backs on him, leave him 

 to parade to his precious self alone. 



There are crows, also, and buzzards from whom 

 the hen must hide the eggs. Nor dare she for- 

 get her own danger while sitting, for there are 

 foxes, owls, and prowling lynxes ready enough 

 to pounce upon her. On the farm most of these 

 enemies have taken human form. 



For a nest the wild hen, like her sister in the 

 pasture-woods, scratches a slight depression in 

 the ground, usually under a thick bush, some- 

 times in a hollow log, and lays from twelve to 

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