THE WILD TURKEY. 55 



merely a kind of protuberance in the flesh at this part, while the young 

 females of the same age have no such appearance. The second year, the 

 males are to be distinguished by the hairy tuft, which is about four inches 

 long, whereas in the females that are not barren, it is yet hardly apparent. 

 The third year, the male Turkey may be said to be adult, although it 

 certainly increases in weight and size for several years more. The females 

 at the age of four are in full beauty, and have the pectoral appendage four or 

 five inches long, but thinner than in the male. The barren hens do not 

 acquire it until they are very old. The experienced hunter knows them at 

 once in the flock, and shoots them by preference. The great number of 

 young hens destitute of the appendage in question, has doubtless given rise 

 to the idea that it is wanting in the female Turkey. 



The long downy double feathers about the thighs and on the lower parts 

 of the sides of the Wild Turkey, are often used for making tippets, by the 

 wives of our squatters and farmers. These tippets, when properly made, 

 are extremely beautiful as well as comfortable. 



A long account of the habits of this remarkable bird has already been 

 given in Bonaparte's American Ornithology, vol. i. As that account was in 

 a great measure derived from notes furnished by myself, you need not be 

 surprised, good reader, to find it often in accordance with the above. 



I have ascertained that some of these valuable birds are still found in the 

 States of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. In the winter of 

 1832-3, I purchased a few fine males in the city of Boston. This species 

 is abundant in the wooded portions of Texas, but none have been observed 

 either on the Rocky Mountains, or to the westward of them. They are, 

 however, becoming less numerous in every portion of the United States, 

 even in those parts where they were very abundant thirty years ago. My 

 friend Dr. Bachman assures me, that in a state of domestication, the Wild 

 Turkeys, though kept separate from tame individuals, lose the brilliancy of 

 their plumage in the third generation, becoming plain brown, and having 

 here and there white feathers intermixed. The eggs measure 2 inches 7 

 eighths in length, by 2 inches in breadth, and are rather pointed; their 

 ground-colour is a uniform pale yellowish tint, and marked all over with pale 

 rusty brown spots and dots. I found this species pretty abundant on James 

 river in Virginia, as well as in the market of Washington city, where, in 

 the winter of 1836-7, they sold at the low price of seventy-five cents a 

 piece. 



Meleagris Gallopavo, Bonap. Syn., p. 122. 



Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Bonap. Amer. Orn., vol. i. p. 79. 



Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 630. 



Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Aud. Orn. Biog\, vol. i. p. 1, 33; vol. v. p. 559. 



