340 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 



bushels fier day. Heaven has wisely and graciously given to these 

 birds rapidity of flight, and a disposition to range over vast unculti- 

 vated tracts of the earth; otherwise they must have perished in the 

 districts where they resided, or devoured the whole productions of 

 agriculture, as well as those of the forests. 



Every Spring, as well as Fall, more or less of these birds are seen 

 in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and particularly in New Jersey ; 

 but it is only once in several years that they appear in very great 

 bodies; and this commonly when the snows are heavy to the north, 

 the winter here more than usually mild, and forests nuts abundant. 



Turtle Dove. This is a favourite bird with all those who love to 

 wander among our woods in spring, and listen to their varied har- 

 mony. They will hear many a singular and sprightly performer, but 

 none so mournful as this. The hopeless wo of confirmed sorrow 

 swelling the heart of female innocence itself, could not assume tones 

 more sad, more tender and affecting. Its notes are four : the first 

 is somewhat the highest and preparatory, seeming to be uttered with 

 an inspiration of the breath, as if the afflicted creature were just 

 recovering its voice from the last convulsive sobs of distress ; this is 

 followed by three long, deep and mournful moanings, that no person 

 of sensibility can listen to without sympathy. There is, however, 

 nothing of real distress in all this : quite the reverse. The bird who 

 Utters it wantons by the side of his beloved partner, or invites her by 

 his call to some favourite and shady retreat ; it is the voice of love, 

 of faithful connubial affection, for which the whole family of Doves 

 are so celebrated. The flesh of this bird is considered superior to 

 that of the Wild Pigeon ; but its seeming confidence in man, the 

 tenderness of its notes, and the innocency attached to its character, 

 are with many its security and protection ; with others, however, the 

 tenderness of its Jlcs/i, and the sport of shooting, overcome all other 

 considerations. The Turtle Dove lays two pure white eggs. The 

 male and female unite in feeding the young, and they have rarely 

 more than two broods in the same season. 



The Ground Dove is a native of North and South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Louisiana, Florida, Mexico, and the West Indies. In the last it is 

 frequently kept in cages ; is esteemed excellent for the table, and 

 honoured by the French planters with the name of Ortolan. It is a 

 bird of passage, retiring to the islands, and to the more southerly 

 parts of the continent, on the approach of winter, and returning to its 

 former haunts early in April. It is of a more slender and delicate 

 form, and less able to bear the rigours of cold, than either of the two 

 preceding species, both of which are found in the northern regions 

 of Canada, as well as in the genial climate of Florida. 



Wild Turkey. It was to America that the Europeans were in- 

 debted for the original stock of the domestic Turkey ; a bird which 

 has been spread over the greater part of the civilized world, and 

 which contributes largely to the gratifications of life. Wild Turkies 

 were formerly numerous in Pennsylvania ; but population has driven 

 to the westward these valuable birds ; and at present what few remain 

 are found chiefly in the Allegany ridge, and the unsettled parts to the 

 west. In the states bordering on the Ohio and the Mississippi they 

 are yet found in considerable numbers, though much decreased of late 

 years, and ere long they will even there be very rare. In the Floridas 

 and Louisiana they are numerous, particularly in the latter, but it 

 does not appear that they extend much farther than the Big-bend of 



