138 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



other reason why I claim that wildcats do not ha- 

 bitually feed on turkeys is, that one may find a 

 given number of turkeys in a piece of woodland, 

 and never miss one from the flock, unless trapped 

 or killed by a gun — that is, after they are grown. 

 I will cite another incident connected with 

 the habits of the lynx or wildcat that came 

 under my observation while in quest of wild tur- 

 keys in the State of Alabama, in company with 

 my friend John K. Renaud, of New Orleans, an 

 enthusiastic and inveterate sportsman. We 

 were in the Tombigbee Swamp, and one morning, 

 while sitting together in a fallen treetop, calling 

 turkeys, our backs against a log, I felt something 

 soft against my hip. As it felt a little warmer 

 than the earth should feel, I pulled away the 

 leaves with my hands, and there lay an immense 

 cane rabbit dead. Upon pulling it out, I found its 

 head was eaten off close to the shoulders, with no 

 other part touched. This was the work of a 

 lynx. Two days after, we were sitting by an- 

 other log, not over a hundred yards from the first 

 spot, and for the same purpose. I found there a 

 similar object, a large rabbit freshly killed and 



