14 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



breeds, half wild, half tame, with the freedom of 

 the former. I noticed also among them one 

 that was nearly white and one old gobbler that 

 was a pure wild turkey; but it was too far off 

 to shoot him. Dropping the lunch and grasp- 

 ing the gun was but the work of a second; then 

 the birds came round the end of the log and 

 began scratching under a beech tree for nuts. 

 Seeing two gobblers put their heads together 

 at about forty yards from me, I fired, killing 

 both. The flock flew and ran in all directions. 

 One hen passed within twenty paces of me and 

 I killed it with the second barrel. A closer 

 examination of the dead birds convinced me 

 that there had been a cross between the wild 

 and the tame turkeys. The skin on their necks 

 and heads was as yellow as an orange, or more 

 of a buckskin, buff color, while the caruncles on 

 the neck were tinged with vermilion, giving them 

 a most peculiar appearance; all three of those slain 

 had this peculiar marking, and there was not a 

 shadow of the blue or purple of the wild turkey 

 about their heads, while all other points, save the 

 white-tipped feathers, indicated the wild blood. 



