80 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



Darwin has further pointed out that "The 

 tuft of hair on the breast of the wild turkey-cock 

 cannot be of any use, and it is doubtful whether 

 it can be ornamental in the eyes of the female 

 birds; indeed, had the tuft appeared under do- 

 mestication, it would have been called a mon- 

 strosity. 



"The naked skin on the head of a vulture is 

 generally considered as a direct adaptation for 

 wallowing in putridity; and so it may be, or it 

 may possibly be due to the direct action of putrid 

 matter; but we should be very cautious in draw- 

 ing any such inference, when we see that the skin 

 on the head of the clean-feeding male turkey is 

 likewise naked." 1 



Newton has pointed out that the topknotted 

 turkeys were figured by Albin in 1738, and that 

 it "has been suggested with some appearance of 

 probability that the Norfolk breed may be de- 

 scended from the northern form, Meleagris gal- 

 lopavo or americana, while the Cambridgeshire 

 breed may spring from the southern form the M. 



Darwin, Charles. "The Origin of Species," 1880, pp. 70, 158. 

 He also shows that the young of wild turkey are instinctively wild. 



