18 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



ing. The latter is by far the most destructive, 

 and is practised by those who kill turkeys for the 

 market, and frequently by those who want to 

 slaughter these birds solely for count. No creat- 

 ure, however prolific, can stand such treatment 

 long. The quail, though shot in great numbers 

 by both sportsmen and market hunters, and an- 

 nually destroyed legitimately by the thousands, 

 stands it better than the wild turkey, although 

 the latter produces and raises almost as many 

 young at a time as the quail. 



There are two reasons for this: one is, the 

 quail are not baited and shot on the ground ; the 

 other reason is that every bob white in the spring 

 can, and does, use his call, thus bringing to him 

 a mate; but the turkey, if he dares to gobble, 

 no matter if he is the only turkey within a radius 

 of forty miles, has every one who hears him and 

 can procure a gun, after him, and they pursue 

 him relentlessly until he is killed. Among the 

 turkeys the hens raised are greatly in excess of 

 the gobblers. This fact seems to have been pro- 

 vided for by nature in making the male turkey 

 polygamous; but as the male turkey is, during 



