48 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



Dr. Coues, who has also written an article on 

 the history of the wild turkey, which, by the 

 way, is mainly composed of a lengthy quotation 

 from the above cited article of Bennett's, says: 

 "Linnaeus, however, knew perfectly well that 

 the turkey was American. He says distinctly: 

 'Habitat in America septentrionali,' and quotes as 

 his first reference (after Fn. Soec. 198), the Gallo- 

 pavo sylvestris novce anglice, or New England 

 Wild Turkey of Ray. Brisson distinguished the 

 two perfectly, giving an elaborate description, 

 a copious synonomy, and a good figure of each; 

 and from about this time it may be considered 

 that the history of the two birds, so widely di- 

 verse, was finally disentangled, and the proper 

 habitat ascribed to each." (Refers to first de- 

 scribers of the pintado and turkey.) 1 



So much for the earliest describers of the wild 



^oues, Elliott. " History of the Wild Turkey." Forest and Stream, 

 XIII, January 1, 1879, p. 947. 



Another work I have examined on this part of our subject is D. G. 

 Elliot's " Game Birds of America," and the turkey cuts in this book were 

 copied by Coues into the last edition of his "Key to North American 

 Birds," and very poorly done. Dr. D. G. Elliot's superb work, illus- 

 trated by magnificent colored plates by the artist Wolfe, on "A Mono- 

 graph of the Phasianidse or the Family of the Pheasants," I have not 

 examined. The copy in the Library of Congress was out on a loan when 

 I made application for it. Several plates of different species of wild 

 turkeys are to be found in it. 



