ASSOCIATION OF SEXES 133 



long; and it has never yet happened that, when 

 one was missing, I could not trace it to a gunshot 

 and not to turkey homicide. I will not flatly dis- 

 pute that there have been such incidents as cited 

 by Audubon, met with by others; but I do claim 

 that murder is not common among turkeys, and 

 such incidents must be extremely rare, or I would 

 have witnessed them. I can see no way by which 

 one turkey can kill another; for, as I have said 

 before, the spur is not long enough except to 

 barely penetrate the thick feathers, and the bit- 

 ing and pinching of the tough skin on the neck and 

 head could not cause contusion sufficient to pro- 

 duce death, nor are the blows from the wings 

 sufficiently severe to break bones. 



