118 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



mother, and become quite self-reliant, so far as 

 roosting, feeding, and flying into trees is con- 

 cerned. They are not, however, entirely inde- 

 pendent of their mother's care until fully grown, 

 but usually the entire brood remains under her 

 guidance more or less until December or Jan- 

 uary. At this time the young males begin to 

 follow the ways of the old gobbler, separating 

 from the females and going in bands by them- 

 selves; therefore there are at this time three 

 classes of turkeys socially (if I may use the 

 term) in the same district. These flocks will 

 incidentally meet, and will feed and scratch to- 

 gether for an hour or so ; they then separate into 

 their respective classes and disappear in different 

 directions with great system and little ado. 



