﻿48 
  GEOUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TURKEYS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  of 
  two 
  birds 
  collected 
  at 
  Summitville, 
  Colo., 
  in 
  January, 
  1891, 
  at 
  an 
  

   altitude 
  of 
  13,000 
  feet, 
  were 
  found 
  to 
  contain 
  bud 
  twigs 
  from 
  one- 
  

   third 
  to 
  one-half 
  inch 
  long, 
  but 
  the 
  kind 
  of 
  bush 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  

   came 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  determined. 
  Doctor 
  Coues, 
  quoting 
  T. 
  M. 
  Trippe, 
  

   states 
  that 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  is 
  insects, 
  leguminous 
  flowers, 
  and 
  

   the 
  buds 
  and 
  leaves 
  of 
  pines 
  and 
  firs. 
  a 
  According 
  to 
  Major 
  Bendire, 
  

   the 
  flowers 
  and 
  leaves 
  of 
  marsh 
  marigold 
  {Caltha 
  leptosepala) 
  and 
  

   the 
  leaf 
  buds 
  and 
  catkins 
  of 
  the 
  dwarf 
  birch 
  (Betula 
  glandulosa) 
  are 
  

   eaten. 
  & 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  K. 
  Fisher 
  examined 
  the 
  stomachs 
  of 
  two 
  downy 
  

   chicks 
  collected 
  on 
  Mount 
  Rainier, 
  Washington, 
  and 
  found 
  beetles 
  

   and 
  flowers 
  of 
  heather 
  (Cassiope 
  mertensiana) 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  

   blueberry. 
  

  

  THE 
  WILD 
  TURKEY. 
  

  

  (Meleagris 
  gallopavo.) 
  c 
  

  

  The 
  wild 
  turkey, 
  our 
  biggest 
  game 
  bird, 
  was 
  formerly 
  abundant 
  

   over 
  a 
  wide 
  area. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  exterminated 
  throughout 
  much 
  of 
  its 
  

   former 
  range, 
  and 
  unless 
  radical 
  measures 
  are 
  taken 
  it 
  will 
  become 
  

   extinct 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years. 
  In 
  early 
  colonial 
  days 
  it 
  was 
  numerous 
  in 
  

   Massachusetts, 
  coming 
  about 
  the 
  houses 
  of 
  the 
  settlers 
  in 
  large 
  

   flocks. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  totally 
  extinct 
  in 
  New 
  England. 
  It 
  is 
  hard 
  to 
  

   realize 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century 
  turkeys 
  were 
  

   so 
  abundant 
  that 
  they 
  sold 
  for 
  6 
  cents 
  apiece, 
  though 
  the 
  largest 
  

   ones, 
  weighing 
  from 
  25 
  to 
  30 
  pounds, 
  sometimes 
  brought 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  

   a 
  dollar. 
  A 
  big 
  wild 
  turkey 
  nowadays 
  would 
  not 
  long 
  go 
  begging 
  

   at 
  $5. 
  It 
  is 
  their 
  value 
  as 
  food 
  that 
  has 
  made 
  it 
  worth 
  while 
  to 
  

   hunt 
  turkeys 
  to 
  the 
  very 
  point 
  of 
  extermination. 
  So-called 
  sports- 
  

   men 
  go 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  late 
  summer 
  ostensibly 
  to 
  shoot 
  squirrels, 
  but 
  really 
  

   to 
  pot 
  turkeys 
  on 
  the 
  roost. 
  Another 
  practice 
  is 
  to 
  lie 
  in 
  ambush 
  and 
  

   lure 
  the 
  game 
  by 
  imitating 
  the 
  call 
  note 
  of 
  the 
  hen 
  in 
  spring. 
  The 
  

   writer 
  has 
  personal 
  knowledge 
  of 
  such 
  methods 
  of 
  hunting 
  in 
  Vir- 
  

   ginia 
  and 
  Maryland, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  largely 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  exter- 
  

   mination 
  now 
  imminent. 
  Trapping 
  turkeys 
  in 
  pens 
  — 
  a 
  very 
  simple 
  

   matter 
  — 
  has 
  also 
  accelerated 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  species. 
  

  

  William 
  Brewster 
  found 
  the 
  turkey 
  breeding 
  in 
  North 
  Carolina 
  

   among 
  the 
  conifers 
  at 
  5,000 
  feet 
  altitude, 
  and 
  also 
  in 
  the 
  hardwoods 
  

   at 
  low 
  altitudes. 
  Edward 
  A. 
  Preble, 
  of 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  dis- 
  

  

  * 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  Northwest, 
  p. 
  427, 
  1874. 
  

  

  6 
  Life 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  A. 
  Birds, 
  [I], 
  pp. 
  85-86, 
  1892. 
  

  

  c 
  The 
  typical 
  Meleagris 
  gallopavo 
  is 
  restricted 
  to 
  Mexico 
  ; 
  but 
  four 
  geographic 
  

   races 
  have 
  been 
  recognized 
  within 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  These 
  are 
  the 
  wild 
  tur- 
  

   key 
  of 
  the 
  Eastern 
  States 
  and 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Valley 
  (Meleagris 
  gallopavo 
  sil- 
  

   vestris) 
  ; 
  the 
  Florida 
  turkey 
  (M. 
  g. 
  osceola) 
  ; 
  the 
  Rio 
  Grande 
  turkey 
  (M. 
  g. 
  

   intermedia) 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  Merriam 
  turkey 
  of 
  Colorado, 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  Arizona, 
  and 
  

   the 
  table-land 
  of 
  northern 
  Mexico 
  (M. 
  g. 
  merriami). 
  

  

  