LESSON THIRTY-SIX 
TURKEYS AND GUINEAS 
1. Wild turkeys.—The wild turkey is a native of 
America. It was taken to Europe by sailors and explor- 
ers and early brought into a domestic state. There are 
villages in France where turkeys are kept at the public 
expense. The birds are individually owned, but the care 
of the village flock is in the charge of a paid employee, 
who takes them to the open fields in the morning and 
returns them to their homes at night. Wild turkeys 
still exist, but their numbers are few. At one time flocks 
of 50 or 100 were common, but the constant spread of 
settlers and the continuous hunting expeditions have scat- 
tered these beautiful wild birds, depleting their ranks 
and destroying their haunts, until their glory has become 
a thing of the past. 
2. Mammoth Bronze turkeys.—Un- 
questionably the best known variety . 
of turkeys is the Bronze or Mammoth 
Bronze. This is not only the most 
striking in appearance, but also the 
largest. The adult tom has a standard 
weight of 36 pounds and the hen 20 
pounds. Much greater weights than 
these are often reached. Usually, 
however, these heavy weights are not 
for sale by fanciers. One objection to 
the Bronze variety is that the hens are 
Yum, Yum considered poorer layers than hens of 
the other kinds. In color the sexes are alike, except that in 
males it is more vivid. The feathers are bronze or dull 
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