A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



207 



his forehead. "The flock just now surprised must have 

 cried out : c What is this animal ?' — C A dog,' would be the 

 answer of the most knowing among them. ' Fly, my 

 friends, fly !' he would cry ; c dogs are always accompanied 

 by men, and men have guns.' 'A gun ! what's that ?' — 'A 

 machine that goes bourn and kills turkeys.' Then I make 

 my appearance ; they bustle about, fly away, and spread in 

 every direction ; but my gun had time to go bourn and to 

 kill this beautiful bird." 



I need scarcely say what mirth was excited by this ac- 

 count. While returning to our bivouac, Sumichrast told 

 Lucien that the turkey is a native of America, and that it 

 was introduced by the Jesuits into Europe, where it 

 flourished well. In a domestic state, the color of its plum- 

 age altered to a reddish, a white, and a gray and black 

 color. But it never lost the habit of walking about in 

 flocks, and of laying its eggs in thickets, in a shapeless nest, 

 which the young chicks leave the second day after they are 

 hatched. Lastly, the Aztec name of the turkey — totole — is 

 applied by the Indians to simpletons and cowards. 



Lucien then told PEncuerado about the magpie and the 

 amphisbaena. 



" You killed a maquiz coatl — a two-headed serpent !" 

 cried the Indian. 



" I only wounded it, for it got away ; but it had only one 

 head." 



" Then you didn't examine it thoroughly ; for it would 

 not turn round when it crawled away." 



" I did not notice. I saw it Jeap up in the air, and that 

 was all." 



" Have you searched well under the stones ? Let us go 

 back ; the skin of the maquiz coatl enables the blind to see. 

 Why did you let it escape ?" 



" Oh ! we shall be sure to find another." 



