RANGE, VARIATION, AND NAME 13 



small creeks and hills. Many hybrid wild tur- 

 keys are killed here every year. The cause of this 

 is : every old gobbler that dares to open its mouth 

 to gobble in the spring is within the hearing of 

 farmers, negroes, and others, and is a marked 

 bird. It is given no rest until it is killed; hence 

 there are few or no wild turkeys to take care of 

 the hens, which then visit the domestic gobbler 

 about the farmyards. Hence this crossing with 

 the wild one is responsible for a great variety of 

 plumages. 



I once saw a flock of hybrids while hunting 

 squirrels in Pelahatchie swamp, Mississippi, as 

 I sat at the root of a tree eating lunch, about one 

 o'clock, with gun across my lap, as I never wish 

 to be caught out of reach of my gun. Suddenly 

 I heard a noise in the leaves, and on looking in 

 that direction I saw a considerable flock of 

 turkeys coming directly toward me in a lively 

 manner, eagerly searching for food. The mo- 

 ment these birds came in sight I saw they had 

 white tips to their tails, but they had the form 

 and action of the wild turkey, and it at once 

 occurred to me that they were a lot of mixed 



