TURKEYS 



(310a) Meleagris gallopavo 



Silvestris Vieill. (Lat., a Guinea- 

 fowl; a cock, a ijca-fowl; of the woorlland). 



WILD TURKEY. Head and neck 

 naked and warty; a dewlap on the 

 throat and a soft, erectile process 

 on the forehead. Plumage as shown; 

 notice that the tail coverts are 

 coppery, without white edging. The 

 hen is smaller, less lustrous and 

 without spurs. L., 40.00; weight of 

 cf up to 30 fts.; 9 averaging about 

 12 lbs. Eggs — Ten to fourteen, 

 buff, regularly spotted with reddish- 

 brown, 2.45 X 1.85. 



Range — From Pa. and Neb. south 

 to the Gulf; formerly north to Ont. 

 and Me. 



(3I0b) M. g. osceola Scott 



FLORIDA TURKEY. .A. smaller 

 variety with lighter tips to the upper 

 tail coverts. Found in Fla. 



Their antics during the spring match-making are even 

 more ludicrous than those of other grouse. The big air-sacs 

 on the sides of tlie neck are filled almost to the bursting 

 point, causing the stiff, bristly feathers to stand out like the 

 quills of a porcupine; the tail is erect, and the stiff, pointed 

 feathers spread to their limit; with wings dragging on the 

 ground, the bird struts about, so swelled up with pride that 

 his breast bumps along the ground. To us, such a perform- 

 ance, especially by such large birds, seems rather foolish, 

 but the hens like it, and it decides them as to which indi- 

 viduals they will have for partners, even though they know 

 the old fellows will desert them at the first opportunity. 



Family MELEAGRID^. Turkeys 



WILD TURKEYS, by virtue of their great size, their 

 wariness and their great gift to the human race in the shape 

 of domestic turkeys, are really entitled to be called the real 

 kings of all birds. 'Twas not our eastern bird that was 



