THE WILD TURKEY 299 
“We were encamped quite near the nest; one morn- 
ing I noticed a hen turkey stealing through the bushes 
and suspected she was going to her nest. We watched 
her carefully for three mornings, and having pretty 
nearly located the nest, commenced a close search, 
and examined, as we thought, every inch of ground. I 
was about giving up, when looking down almost at my 
feet, I saw the bird sitting on the nest. She at once 
ran; she had allowed me to pass several times within 
a foot of her without moving, and seemed to know at 
once when she was seen. I have often noticed this 
trait in birds of this genus; as long as unseen you 
can tramp all around them, but they seem to know 
at once when they are seen and lose no time in getting 
away.” 
As long as the hiding bird, which sees and hears its 
pursuer, is convinced that he is still ignorant of its 
position, it feels safe, but the moment it recognizes by 
the expression of the man’s eye that its hiding place has 
been detected, it is off without delay. 
The eggs of the wild turkey are not at all unlike 
those of the domestic bird. Usually they are cream- 
colored, dotted with finer or larger spots of reddish 
brown, chocolate and sometimes lavender. Captain 
Bendire states that the spots are more often very 
small and fine than large. 
The young follow the mother as soon as hatched, but 
Audubon says, “As the hatching generally takes place 
in the afternoon they frequently return to the nest to 
spend the first night there.” 
