﻿WILD 
  TURKEY. 
  51 
  

  

  One 
  turkey, 
  collected 
  December 
  23, 
  1899, 
  in 
  North 
  Carolina, 
  had 
  

   eaten 
  half 
  a 
  pint 
  of 
  dogwood 
  berries. 
  Its 
  crop 
  contained 
  also 
  a 
  few 
  

   pine 
  needles. 
  Four 
  Florida 
  wild 
  turkeys 
  also 
  were 
  examined. 
  Nearly 
  

   100 
  percent 
  of 
  their 
  food 
  was 
  vegetable. 
  The 
  animal 
  matter 
  was 
  found 
  

   in 
  two 
  birds 
  and 
  consisted 
  of 
  the 
  useful 
  predaceous 
  ground 
  beetle 
  

   (Scarites 
  subterraneus) 
  and 
  the 
  injurious 
  12-spotted 
  cucumber 
  

   beetle 
  (Diabrotica 
  12-punctata) 
  ; 
  also 
  caterpillars 
  (Hadena 
  turbu- 
  

   lenta), 
  grasshoppers 
  (Melanoplus 
  arboreus 
  and 
  Arnilia 
  sp.), 
  2 
  dragon 
  

   flies 
  (Libellula 
  sp.), 
  and 
  1 
  centipede. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  

   first-mentioned 
  grasshopper's 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Florida. 
  A 
  third 
  turkey 
  

   had 
  eaten 
  half 
  a 
  pint 
  of 
  long-leafed 
  pine 
  seeds. 
  Many 
  of 
  these 
  seeds 
  

   were 
  germinating, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  had 
  cotyledons 
  more 
  than 
  an 
  

   inch 
  long. 
  The 
  Florida 
  bobwhite 
  also 
  is 
  very 
  fond 
  of 
  these 
  pine 
  

   seeds. 
  The 
  same 
  bird 
  had 
  eaten 
  three 
  thimblefuls 
  of 
  grass 
  seed 
  

   (Panicum 
  minimum), 
  12 
  spicebush 
  berries 
  {Benzoin 
  benzoin), 
  20 
  

   berries 
  of 
  the 
  wax 
  myrtle 
  (Myrica 
  cerifera), 
  2 
  live-oak 
  acorns 
  (Quer- 
  

   cus 
  virginiana) 
  , 
  and 
  15 
  acorns 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  oak 
  (Quercus 
  digitata). 
  

   Another 
  turkey 
  had 
  taken 
  25 
  tubers 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  nut 
  (Apios 
  

   apios) 
  — 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  exceeding 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  length— 
  and 
  the 
  berries 
  

   of 
  false 
  Solomon's 
  seal 
  (Polygonatum 
  sp.), 
  southern 
  tupelo, 
  and 
  wax 
  

   myrtle. 
  Half 
  a 
  pint 
  of 
  the 
  fruiting 
  panicles 
  of 
  a 
  grass 
  {Muhlen- 
  

   bergia 
  sp.) 
  was 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  a 
  New 
  Mexican 
  turkey 
  shot 
  

   in 
  November 
  in 
  the 
  Manzano 
  Mountains. 
  It 
  had 
  eaten 
  also 
  grass 
  

   blades, 
  seeds 
  of 
  cheat, 
  pihon 
  nuts, 
  and 
  seeds 
  of 
  other 
  pines. 
  

  

  Although 
  grain 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  only 
  one 
  stomach, 
  the 
  writer 
  observed 
  

   turkeys 
  on 
  the 
  Roanoke 
  bottoms 
  in 
  December, 
  1903, 
  feeding 
  on 
  corn 
  

   after 
  the 
  crop 
  had 
  been 
  harvested. 
  During 
  November 
  and 
  Decem- 
  

   ber 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  turkey 
  is 
  fruit. 
  The 
  kinds 
  most 
  frequently 
  

   eaten 
  include, 
  besides 
  those 
  already 
  mentioned, 
  myrtle 
  holly 
  (Oreo- 
  

   phila 
  myvtifolia), 
  mulberries, 
  wild 
  strawberries, 
  blackberries, 
  cedar 
  

   berries, 
  and 
  holly 
  berries. 
  On 
  San 
  Francisco 
  Mountain, 
  Arizona, 
  Dr. 
  

   C. 
  Hart 
  Merriam 
  found 
  turkeys 
  in 
  August 
  feeding 
  on 
  wild 
  goose- 
  

   berries. 
  A 
  month 
  later, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  locality, 
  he 
  found 
  them 
  living 
  on 
  

   piiion 
  nuts. 
  a 
  In 
  Arizona 
  E. 
  A. 
  Goldman 
  found 
  a 
  flock 
  of 
  150 
  young 
  

   and 
  old 
  turkeys 
  that 
  roosted 
  in 
  one 
  place. 
  The 
  gobblers 
  were 
  at 
  this 
  

   time 
  in 
  a 
  separate 
  flock. 
  These 
  birds 
  were 
  feeding 
  on 
  nuts 
  of 
  the 
  

   piiion 
  (Pinus 
  edulis), 
  a 
  staple 
  Indian 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  West. 
  They 
  ate 
  

   also 
  juniper 
  berries 
  (Juniperus 
  utahensis) 
  J 
  3 
  On 
  the 
  upper 
  Gila 
  

   River, 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  in 
  November, 
  1873, 
  H. 
  W. 
  Henshaw 
  found 
  turkeys 
  

   very 
  numerous 
  and 
  feeding 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  upon 
  grass 
  seeds 
  

   and 
  grasshoppers, 
  the 
  crops 
  of 
  many 
  birds 
  being 
  fairly 
  crammed 
  with 
  

   the 
  former. 
  Major 
  Bendire 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  Florida 
  turkey 
  feeds 
  on 
  

  

  a 
  N. 
  A. 
  Fauna, 
  No. 
  3, 
  p. 
  89, 
  1890. 
  

   6 
  Auk, 
  vol. 
  19, 
  p. 
  123, 
  127, 
  1902. 
  

  

  