THE WILD TURKEY. 45 



thus struggle, and gasp for breath, one of them should lose his hold, his 

 chance is over, for the other, still holding fast, hits him violently with spurs 

 and wings, and in a few minutes brings him to the ground. The moment 

 he is dead, the conqueror treads him under foot, but, what is strange, not 

 with hatred, but with all the motions which he employs in caressing the 

 female. 



When the male has discovered and made up to the female (whether such 

 a combat has previously taken place or not), if she be more than one year 

 old, she also struts and gobbles, turns round him as he continues strutting, 

 suddenly opens her wings, throws herself towards him, as if to put a stop to 

 his idle delay, lays herself down, and receives his dilatory caresses. If the 

 cock meet a young hen, he alters his mode of procedure. He struts in 

 a different manner, less pompously and more energetically, moves with 

 rapidity, sometimes rises from the ground, taking a short flight around the 

 hen, as is the manner of some Pigeons, the Red-breasted Thrush, and many 

 other birds, and on alighting, runs with all his might, at the same time 

 rubbing his tail and wings along the ground, for the space of perhaps ten 

 yards. He then draws near the timorous female, allays her fears by purring, 

 and when she at length assents, caresses her. 



When a male and a female have thus come together, I believe the con- 

 nexion continues for that season, although the former by no means confines 

 his attentions to one female, as I have seen a cock caress several hens, when 

 he happened to fall in with them in the same place, for the first time. After 

 this the hens follow their favourite cock, roosting in his immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, if not on the same tree, until they begin to lay, when they sepa- 

 rate themselves, in order to save their eggs from the male, who would break 

 them all, for the purpose of protracting his sexual enjoyments. The females 

 then carefully avoid him, excepting during a short period each day. After 

 this the males become clumsy and slovenly, if one may say so, cease to fight 

 with each other, give up gobbling or calling so frequently, and assume so 

 careless a habit, that the hens are obliged to make all the advances them- 

 selves. They yelp loudly and almost continually for the cocks, run up to 

 them, caress them, and employ various means to rekindle their expiring 

 ardour. 



Turkey-cocks when at roost sometimes strut and gobble, but I have more 

 generally seen them spread out and raise their tail, and emit the pulmonic 

 puff, lowering their tail and other feathers immediately after. During clear 

 nights, or when there is moonshine, they perform this action at intervals of 

 a few minutes, for hours together, without moving from the same spot, and 

 indeed sometimes without rising on their legs, especially towards the end of 

 the love-season. The males now become greatly emaciated, and cease to 

 Vol. V. 7 



