DOKESTTC FOULTaT. 



size, or else the compiler of the " Perfect Description " told 

 dreadful stories, for all modem travellers agree that the "wilde 

 turkie " is never found to exceed thirty-five pounds in weight 



Sppaking of the habits of the wild turkey, a reliable writer 

 says, " The males associate in parties of from ten to a hundred, 

 and seek their food apart from the females, which either go 

 about singly with their young, at that time aboat two-thirds 

 grown, or form troops with other females and their fanuhes, 

 sometimes to the amount of seventy or eighty. These all avoid 

 the old males, who attack and destroy the young whenever 

 they can by reiterated blows on the skull. 



" But all parties travel in the same direction, and on foot, 

 unless the hunter's dog, or a river on their line of march, 

 compels them to take wing. When about to cross a river, 

 they select the highest eminences, that their flight may be 

 more sure, and in such positions they sometimes stay for a day 

 or more, as if in consultation. The males on such occasions 

 gobble obstreperously, strutting with extraordinary importance, 

 as if to animate their companions ; and the females and young 

 assume much of the pompous air of the males, and spread their 

 tails as they move silently around. 



" At length, having mounted to the top of 'ie highest trees, 

 the assembled multitude, at the signal-note of their leader, 

 wing their way to the opposite shore. The old and fat birds, 

 contrary to what might be expected, cross without difficulty 

 even when the river is a mile in width ; but the wings of the 

 young and meagre, and of course those who are weak, fre- 

 quently fail them before they have completed their passage, 

 when in they drop and are forced to swim for their lives. This 

 they do cleverly enough, spreading their tails for support, 

 closing their wings, stretching out their necks, and striking 

 out quickly and strongly with their feet. All however do not 

 succeed in such attempts, and the weaker often perish." 



Mr. Jesse relates, on what he considers good authority, that 

 in the reign of George the Second a flock of wild turkeys, three 

 thousand strong, formed part of the live stock of Richmond 

 Park. The worthy naturalist tells us that in the autumn and 

 winter they fed on acorns, of which they must have had » 

 considerable supply, since the park was then almost en- 

 tirely wooded with oak, with a thick cover of furze ; and that 

 stacks of barley were put np in different places in the park foi 

 their support. Considering this liberal arrangement, we are 

 not much surprised to hear that some of the old cock birds 



