﻿INTRODUCTION. 
  V 
  

  

  by 
  differences 
  in 
  color. 
  The 
  best 
  known 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  the 
  common 
  wild 
  

   turkey 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Valley 
  and 
  the 
  Eastern 
  States. 
  The 
  others 
  

   are 
  the 
  Florida 
  wild 
  turkey, 
  the 
  Rio 
  Grande 
  turkey, 
  and 
  the 
  Merriam 
  

   turkey 
  of 
  the 
  southern 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  from 
  Colorado 
  south 
  

   through 
  New 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Arizona. 
  These 
  birds 
  differ 
  in 
  color 
  to 
  

   a 
  certain 
  extent, 
  but 
  have 
  a 
  close 
  general 
  resemblance. 
  Owing 
  to 
  

   their 
  size 
  and 
  the 
  value 
  set 
  on 
  their 
  flesh, 
  wild 
  turkeys 
  have 
  been 
  

   hunted 
  so 
  persistently 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  exterminated 
  over 
  much 
  

   of 
  their 
  former 
  range 
  and 
  have 
  become 
  the 
  shyest 
  of 
  our 
  game 
  birds. 
  

   There 
  are 
  remarkable 
  exceptions 
  to 
  this 
  rule, 
  however, 
  as 
  their 
  per- 
  

   sistence 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  Virginia 
  and 
  Maryland, 
  

   within 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  of 
  Washington 
  City. 
  This 
  ability 
  to 
  maintain 
  a 
  

   foothold 
  in 
  long-settled 
  parts 
  of 
  their 
  old 
  territory 
  suggests 
  the 
  feas- 
  

   ibility 
  of 
  restocking 
  parts 
  of 
  their 
  former 
  range. 
  In 
  pioneer 
  days 
  

   they 
  were 
  often 
  destructive 
  to 
  cornfields, 
  and 
  in 
  remote 
  places 
  they 
  

   still 
  raid 
  grainfields, 
  but 
  the 
  damage 
  is 
  insignificant. 
  

  

  Unfortunately 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  our 
  game 
  birds 
  are 
  now 
  gone 
  or 
  are 
  

   fast 
  disappearing 
  from 
  their 
  former 
  haunts. 
  An 
  awakening 
  appre- 
  

   ciation 
  of 
  the 
  real 
  value 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  evident 
  

   danger 
  of 
  their 
  extermination 
  is 
  evinced 
  by 
  protective 
  laws 
  that 
  

   have 
  been 
  enacted 
  in 
  recent 
  years 
  throughout 
  the 
  country. 
  These 
  

   laws 
  are 
  mainly 
  the 
  outcome 
  of 
  a 
  realization 
  of 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  

   from 
  the 
  sportsman's 
  point 
  of 
  view. 
  The 
  investigations 
  upon 
  which 
  

   the 
  present 
  report 
  is 
  based 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  farmer 
  has 
  a 
  vastly 
  greater 
  

   interest 
  at 
  stake 
  in 
  the 
  increase 
  and 
  protection 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  

   birds, 
  notably 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  than 
  has 
  the 
  sportsman. 
  In 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  

   decrease 
  of 
  both 
  bobwhites 
  and 
  prairie 
  hens 
  it 
  is 
  important 
  to 
  know 
  

   that 
  there 
  is 
  every 
  probability 
  that 
  proper 
  efforts 
  to 
  rear 
  these 
  

   birds 
  for 
  restocking 
  purposes 
  will 
  be 
  successful. 
  The 
  numbers 
  of 
  

   bobwhite 
  may 
  be 
  readily 
  increased 
  by 
  careful 
  protection, 
  but 
  the 
  heath 
  

   hen 
  is 
  already 
  extinct 
  in 
  the 
  Eastern 
  States, 
  and 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  is 
  

   nearly 
  or 
  quite 
  gone 
  from 
  large 
  areas 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  

   numerous 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago. 
  The 
  restocking 
  of 
  suitable 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  

   former 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  former 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  

   heath 
  hen 
  in 
  the 
  coast 
  region 
  of 
  Virginia 
  and 
  Maryland 
  appears 
  to 
  

   be 
  quite 
  practicable. 
  The 
  significance 
  of 
  an 
  experiment 
  made 
  by 
  

   Audubon 
  many 
  years 
  ago 
  at 
  Henderson, 
  Ky., 
  is 
  of 
  special 
  interest 
  

   in 
  this 
  connection. 
  In 
  the 
  fall 
  he 
  secured 
  60 
  prairie 
  hens 
  and, 
  clip- 
  

   ping 
  their 
  wings, 
  turned 
  them 
  loose 
  in 
  his 
  garden 
  and 
  orchard 
  which 
  

   contained 
  about 
  4 
  acres.* 
  The 
  birds 
  quickly 
  became 
  tame 
  and 
  " 
  walked 
  

   about 
  the 
  garden 
  like 
  so 
  many 
  tame 
  fowls, 
  mingling 
  occasionally 
  

   with 
  the 
  domestic 
  poultry." 
  The 
  importance 
  of 
  the 
  prairie 
  hen 
  as 
  

   a 
  destroyer 
  of 
  weeds 
  and 
  insects 
  has 
  been 
  demonstrated, 
  and 
  its 
  value 
  

   as 
  a 
  food 
  and 
  game 
  bird 
  is 
  well 
  known. 
  As 
  the 
  bird 
  possesses 
  such 
  

   6568— 
  No. 
  24—05 
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