130 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



wings, which are used to produce the cluck, are 

 badly worn by the continued dragging on the 

 ground. 



"While thus occupied," continues Audubon, 

 "the males often encounter each other, and des- 

 perate battles take place, ending in bloodshed 

 and often in the loss of many lives, the weaker 

 falling under repeated blows inflicted upon their 

 heads by the stronger. I have often been much 

 diverted while watching two males in fierce con- 

 flict by seeing them move alternately back and 

 forth as either had obtained a better hold, their 

 wings dropping, tails partly raised, body feathers 

 ruffled, and heads covered with blood. If in 

 their struggle and gasps for breath one of them 

 should lose his hold, his chance is over, for the 

 other, still holding fast, hits him violently with 

 his spurs and wings and in a few moments brings 

 him to the ground. The moment he is dead the 

 conqueror treads him underfoot; but what is 

 stranger, not with hatred, but with all the emo- 

 tions he employed in caressing the female." 



I differ with Audubon, not in the case of the 

 conqueror using affectionate conduct upon a 



