THE TURKEY'S NEST. 
357 
descending to the warm, rich valleys ; and, therefore, he and his mate 
take little thought as to their nest. They pile together some dry 
leaves on the ground, or in a coppice, and voild tout ! A favourite 
locality is a thicket of reeds and sumach ; another, the border of a 
field of sugar-canes. Rough and ready as the nest is, much skill is 
always shown in concealing it from sight. The mother-bird never 
returns to it twice by the same path; and before quitting her eggs to 
TURKEYS. 
go in search of food, covers them so completely and carefully with 
leaves, that though an intruder may be able to see the bird, he is 
often unable to find the nest. This caution is by no means unneces- 
sary, for the turkey has numerous enemies. Next to man, the most 
formidable are the lynx and the owl. The former sucks the eggs, 
and preys on the old birds as well as the young, watching for 
them with the persistence and vigilance of a cat lying in wait for 
a mouse. The latter seldom has an opportunity of banqueting 
23 A 
