148 THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING 



land, but not once did they seem inclined to go 

 to it. They remained in the trees until the water 

 went down, and the next I saw of them was in an 

 open plantation, with the lake on one side and 

 the river on the other. The water had barely 

 left the surface in places, and it was muddy and 

 sloppy. They never once went to dry land, but 

 returned to their swamp haunts as the water 

 abated. 



On one occasion, as I was going down the river 

 in my skiff, I saw and passed a great number of 

 wild turkeys, one hundred or more, in small flocks 

 in the timber near and along the river banks. 

 The adjoining swamps were overflowed, with no 

 land above the water. Most of these turkeys 

 were sitting in cottonwood trees immediately on 

 the river banks or a little way out in the tim- 

 ber, eating the buds. Many of them were in the 

 trees that hung over the river, and, although 

 most of the trees were leafless, thus exposing the 

 turkeys to view, they remained there quite 

 unconcerned while steamboats passed right by 

 them. As I had three turkeys already in my 

 boat, I felt no desire to molest them as I drifted 



