W. cook's TURKEY, GOOSE, AND PHEASANT BOOK. 31 



after rather than weight. It is an easy matter to put fat 

 on turkeys, but those which are fattened up to such an 

 immense size seldom lay anything like so many eggs. The 

 male bird represented here is a good specimen. 



The breast and shoulders should have a brilliant gloss 

 of a bronze shade, the edge of the feathers just showing a 

 little dark rim, but the feathers lying on the top of the 

 back leading to the tail should be just tipped with white, 

 or as some people call it stone or drab colour, and the tail 

 feathers themselves brown, edged with the same colour at 

 the ends. When the turkey cock puts up his tail the long 

 feathers upon the back stand up and help to form a fan 

 edged with white. After January comes in a healthy 

 turkey cock has his tail out nine hours out of fifteen right 

 up to the autumn. The legs should be rather a pale 

 colour, between a white and pink, and the larger the frame 

 the better. A hen should be the same shape, and the 

 breast and shoulders the same colour as the cock, only not 

 quite such a brilliant gloss. A few of the feathers may 

 show a slight edging of white or drab, but not too much. 

 Some show every feather tipped with this colour right 

 through the body. This is rather an objection in the show 

 pen, but it makes no difference whatever when one only 

 requires the birds for breeding from. Very few people 

 exhibit turkeys, as the carriage to and fro runs so heavy in 

 comparison to the prizes given. 



The tail of a turkey hen is the same colour as that of the 

 male bird, only a trifle lighter. The cocks can easily be 

 distinguished from the hens, as they have a larger head and 

 a great deal more red round the head and neck. The 



