RANGE, VARIATION, AND NAME 17 



esied that the wild turkey would soon become 

 extinct. I am glad to say that the prophecies 

 have not been realized up to the present time, 

 even with the improved implements of destruc- 

 tion and great increase of hunters. There is no 

 game that holds its own so well as the wild tur- 

 key. This is particularly true in the southern 

 Gulf States, where are to be found heavily 

 timbered regions, which are suited to the habits 

 of this bird. Here shelter is afforded and an 

 ample food supply is provided the year round. 

 In the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 

 North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Ar- 

 kansas, Missouri, and the Indian Territory the 

 wild turkey is still to be found in reasonable 

 abundance, and if these states will protect them 

 by the right sort of laws, I am of the opinion 

 that the birds will increase rapidly, despite the 

 encroachment of civilization and the war waged 

 upon them by sportsmen. It is not the legiti- 

 mate methods of destruction that decimate the 

 turkey ranks, as is the case with the quail and 

 grouse, but it is the nefarious tricks the laws in 

 many states permit, namely, trapping and bait- 



