GIANT ROAD-MAKERS 115 



birds now extinct or nearly so, it is still the largest 

 and most powerful bird of North America, and 

 has a right to consideration for this reason. It is 

 the ancestor of our common tame turkey, having 

 been domesticated for many ages; in fact, it had 

 this name given to it in England as far back as 

 1541, when it was supposed to have been brought 

 from Turkey. At the period of the Spanish con- 

 quest, the turkey was the commonest bird of Mex- 

 ico. It was introduced into Europe either from 

 Spain or from the West Indies. 



It is due to their human-like instinct of roadmak- 

 ing, and their respect for territory that the com- 

 mon wild turkeys are stiU plentiful in some parts 

 of America. And no human mother has greater 

 affection for her babies than does this bird of the 

 wild woods and the prairies. From the moment 

 they have hatched from the eggs, the fond mother 

 tenderly watches over them and feeds and warns 

 them. As soon as they become strong enough to 

 wander through the grass and over the prairies, she 

 begins to make little roads or runs to aid them in 

 their travels. Their tiny little red feet must not 

 be pricked by briars and sand-spurs, so Mother 

 Turkey picks away aU harmful stickers and forms 

 a little road from her nesting place to the nearest 

 stream of water. When the mother bird with her 



