ITS ENEMIES AND FOOD 149 



by and under them. I passed right under some 

 fine gobblers on their perches, not over thirty 

 feet up, and they only looked curiously down at 

 me; they seemed to be busily engaged in feeding, 

 and sailed from tree to tree, keeping up a great 

 stir and racket. It is a beautiful sight to watch 

 a flock of wild turkeys budding, especially on 

 beech buds. The branches of the beech trees 

 are long and so limber that the birds with all 

 their efforts can barely hold on to the tiny twigs 

 while they gather their food ; hence they are kept 

 in a constant wobble and flutter, bobbing up and 

 down with their wings spread out to sustain an 

 equilibrium, and their broad tails waving and 

 tossing, bringing them into all manner of atti- 

 tudes, thus enabling the hunter to see and hear 

 them a quarter of a mile through the timber. 

 Some get upon very small limbs, then stretch out 

 their long necks and pick the buds; others will 

 spread out both wings for support and lie prone 

 on a bunch of twigs while they feed. There is 

 little or no trouble for the hunter to approach a 

 flock so engaged and pick off his choice. They 

 are so bent on eating that they take no note of 



