ITS ENEMIES AND FOOD 139 



half eaten, the head and forepart of the body 

 gone. That was the work of a cat. There were 

 plenty of turkeys frequenting that ridge every 

 day, but never one of them was taken by a lynx, 

 as I knew positively just how many gobblers and 

 hens there were in that piece of woods. 



I do not think wildcats ever eat the eggs of the 

 turkey when they come across a nest of them ; they 

 may catch the sitting birds, but all other animals 

 named in the foregoing list eagerly eat the eggs, 

 if they are lucky enough to find the nests; this 

 is also true of the crow, who, on locating a nest, 

 will watch until the mother leaves it in search of 

 food, when it will quickly destroy as many eggs 

 as possible. All the animals and birds named will 

 catch the young turkeys, and the larger birds 

 and animals will kill grown turkeys when they 

 can catch them. 



Snakes give the turkey very little trouble. I 

 do not believe any snake we have can swallow a 

 turkey egg, except possibly the largest of the 

 colubers (chicken snakes). I have never met 

 one that was guilty of it, although I have seen 

 them swallow the eggs of the tame turkey. 



