WILD TURKEY. 209 



flight, run with so much speed, that the swiftest hunter cannot overtake 

 them. The traveller, driving rapidly down the declivity of one of the 

 Alleghanies, may sometimes see steveral of them before him, that evince 

 no urgent desire to get out of the road ; but, on alighting, in hopes of 

 shooting them, he soon finds that all pursuit is vain. 



In the spring, when the males are much emaciated by their attend- 

 ance on the females, it sometimes may happen that, in cleared countries, 

 they can be overtaken by a swift cur-dog, when they will squat, and 

 suflFer themselves to be caught by the dog, or hunter who follows on 

 horseback. But from the knowledge we have gained of this bird, we 

 do not hesitate to affirm, that the manner of running down Turkeys, 

 like Hares or Foxes, so much talked of, is a mere fable, as such a sport 

 would be attended with very trifling success. A Turkey hound will 

 sometimes lead his master several miles, before he can a second time 

 flush the same individual from his concealment ; and even on a fleet 

 horse, after following one for hours, it is often found impossible to put 

 it up. During a fall of melting snow. Turkeys will travel extraordinary 

 distances, and are often pursued in vain by any description of hunters ; 

 they have then a long, straddling manner of running, very easy to 

 themselves, but which few animals can equal. This disposition for 

 running, during rains, or humid weather, is common to all gallinaceous 

 birds. 



The males are frequently decoyed within gunshot, in the breeding 

 season, by forcibly drawing the air through one of the wing bones of 

 the Turkey, producing a sound very similar to the voice of the female : 

 but the performer on this simple instrument must commit no error, for 

 Turkeys are quick of hearing, and, when frequently alarmed, are wary 

 and cunning. Some of these will answer to the call without advancing 

 a step, and thus defeat the speculations of the hunter, who must avoid 

 making any movement, inasmuch as a single glance of a Turkey may 

 defeat his hopes of decoying them. By imitating the cry of the Barred 

 Owl [Strix nebulosa), the hunter discovers many on their roosts, as they 

 will reply by a gobble to every repetition of this sound, and can thus 

 be approached with certainty, about daylight, and easily killed. 



Wild Turkeys are very tenacious of their feeding grounds, as well as 

 of the trees on which they have once roosted. . Flocks have been known 

 to resort to one spot for a succession of years, and to return after a 

 distant emigration in search of food. Their roosting place is mostly 

 on a point of land jutting into a river, where there are large trees. 

 When they have collected at the signal of a repeated gobbling, they 

 silently proceed towards their nocturnal abodes, and perch near each 

 other : from the numbers sometimes congregated in one place, it would 

 seem to be the common rendezvous of the whole neighborhood. But no 

 position, however secluded or difficult of access, can secure them from 



Vol. III.— 14 



