46 THE WILD TURKEY. 



gobble, their breast-sponge becoming flat. They then separate from the 

 hens, and one might suppose that they had entirely deserted their neighbour- 

 hood. At such seasons I have found them lying by the side of a log, in 

 some retired part of the dense woods and cane thickets, and often permitting 

 one to approach within a few feet. They are then unable to fly, but run 

 swiftly, and to a great distance. A slow turkey-hound has led me miles 

 before I could flush the same bird. Chases of this kind I did not undertake 

 for the purpose of killing the bird, it being then unfit for eating, and covered 

 with ticks, but with the view of rendering myself acquainted with its habits. 

 They thus retire to recover flesh and strength, by purging with particular 

 species of grass, and using less exercise. As soon as their condition is 

 improved, the cocks come together again, and recommence their rambles. 

 Let us now return to the females. 



About the middle of April, when the season is dry, the hens begin to look 

 out for a place in which to deposit their eggs. This place requires to be as 

 much as possible concealed from the eye of the Crow, as that bird often 

 watches the Turkey when going to her nest, and, waiting in the neighbour- 

 hood until she has left it, removes and eats the eggs. The nest, which 

 consists of a few withered leaves, is placed on the ground, in a hollow 

 scooped out, by the side of a log, or in the fallen top of a dry leafy tree, 

 under a thicket of sumach or briars, or a few feet within the edge of a cane- 

 brake, but always in a dry place. The eggs, which are of a dull cream 

 colour, sprinkled with red dots, sometimes amount to twenty, although the 

 more usual number is from ten to fifteen. When depositing her eggs, the 

 female always approaches the nest with extreme caution, scarcely ever taking 

 the same course twice; and when about to leave them, covers them carefully 

 with leaves, so that it is very difficult for a person who may have seen the 

 bird to discover the nest. Indeed, few Turkeys' nests are found, unless the 

 female has been suddenly started from them, or a cunning Lynx, Fox, or 

 Crow has sucked the eggs and left their shells scattered about. 



Turkey-hens not unfrequently prefer islands for depositing their eggs and 

 rearing their young, probably because such places are less frequented by 

 hunters, and because the great masses of drifted timber which usually 

 accumulate at their heads, may protect and save them in cases of great 

 emergency. When I have found these birds in such situations, and with 

 young, I have always observed that a single discharge of a gun made them 

 run immediately to the pile of drifted wood, and conceal themselves in it. 

 I have often walked over these masses, which are frequently from ten to 

 twenty feet in height, in search of the game which I knew to be concealed 

 in them. 



When an enemy passes within sight of a female, while laying or sitting, 



