158 



COMMON TURKEY. 



ciate in flocks, consisting of upwards of five hun- 

 dred : they frequent the great swamps to roost ; 

 but at sunrise they leave, and retire to the woods 

 in search of acorns and berries : they perch on 

 trees, and attain the height they wish by rising 

 from bough to bough ; and generally contrive to 

 reach the summits of the loftiest trees by that 

 means. They run with rapidity, but fly very awk- 

 wardly, and towards the spring they become so fat 

 that they cannot fly above three or four hundred 

 yards, and are then easily run down by a horse- 

 man : the hunting of them forms a principal 

 amusement in Canada : when a herd is discovered, 

 a well-trained dog is sent into the midst of them : 

 the birds no sooner perceive him than they run off 

 at full speed, and with such swiftness, that they 

 leave the dog far behind : he still follows, and as 

 they cannot go at this rate for any length of time, 

 at last forces them to take shelter in a tree ; where 

 they sit, completely fatigued, till the hunters come 

 up, and with long poles knock them down one 

 after another. In the inhabited parts of America 

 the wild Turkies begin to disappear, and in fact 

 are comparatively rare, being only found in the 

 wildest and most unfrequented spots. 



The females lay their eggs in the spring, gene- 

 rally in a retired and obscure place, as the male 

 will often break them. They are usually from 

 fourteen to eighteen in number, white mixed with 

 reddish or yellow freckles : the female sits with so 

 much perseverance, that if fresh eggs be introduced 

 into the nest immediately upon the young being 



