HABITS OF ASSOCIATION AND ROOSTING 159 



suits are donned ; they then begin to fatten, and 

 by December are in excellent condition of flesh 

 and feathers, continuing to improve until the 

 gobbling season returns next spring. These 

 confirmed old bachelors will not associate with 

 the other turkeys, but the old hens that have 

 had their nests broken up and have reared no 

 broods will associate all winter with the young 

 broods and their mothers. I have often observed 

 that these old patriarchs, as a rule, never associ- 

 ate with any other age or sex of turkeys. In 

 summer you will often see an old gobbler or two 

 with a flock of hens early in the morning; but see 

 the same flock three hours later and he is not with 

 them . In the early morning hours of spring, while 

 there is a general gobbling and strutting parade, 

 all ages and sexes mingle in the exuberance of the 

 season and hour; but when this outburst of frolic 

 and revelry is over, the different bands return 

 to the sterner business of the day, that of search- 

 ing for food. The old gobblers remain gobbling, 

 strutting, gyrating round, picking at and teasing 

 each other, or strumming now and then with the 

 tip of wings, until a riot is precipitated and a 



