THE TUHKEY. - 41 



Manners of those in a wild state. 



ing this, he confessed he adopted the eastern 

 method of heating the floor, by which camels 

 are taught to dance. 



Turkies, in a wild state, are gregarious; and 

 associate in flocks, sometimes of five hundred. 

 They frequent the great swamps of America to 

 roost ; but leave these situations at sun-rise, to 

 repair to the dry woods, in search of acorns and 

 berries. They perch on trees, and gain the 

 height they wish by rising from bough to bough : 

 they generally mount to the summits of even the 

 loftiest, so as to be often beyond musket-shot. 

 They are very swift runners, but fly awkwardly ; 

 and, about the month of March, they become so 

 fat that they cannot fly beyond three or four hun- 

 dred yards, and are then easily run down by a 

 horseman. 



Wild turkies are now very seldom seen in the 

 inhabited parts of America: they are only found, 

 in any great numbers, in the distant and most 

 unfrequented parts. If the eggs of wild turkies 

 be hatched under tame ones, the young are said 

 still to retain a certain degree of wildness, and to 

 perch separate from the others : yet they will 

 mix and breed together in the season. The In- 

 dians sometimes use the breed produced from the 

 wild birds, to decoy within their reach those still 

 in a state of nature. They also make an elegant 

 clothing of the feathers. They twist the inner 

 webs into a strong double string, with hemp, or 



VOL. iv. NO, -24. v 



