246 
VERTEBRATA. 
or two spurs ; the toes are moderate, and the hinder one short and elevated ; the wings are rather 
short and rounded, and the tail more or less elongated and broad, but frequently wedge-shaped 
and pointed. The head is rarely feathered all over ; the naked skin is sometimes confined to a 
space about the eye, but generally occupies a greater portion of the surface, occasionally covering 
the whole head, and even a part of the neck, and frequently forming combs and wattles of very 
remarkable forms. In some species the crown is furnished with a crest of feathers. 
The birds of this family are for the most part indigenous to the Asiatic continent and islands, 
from which, however, several species have been introduced into other parts of the globe. The 
Guinea-Fowl of Africa, and the Turkeys of iLmerica, are almost the only instances of the occur- 
rence of Avild Phasianidous birds out of Asia. Some species, such as the Common Fowl, the Pea- 
cock, the Turkey, and the Guinea-Fowl, have been reduced to a state of complete domestication, 
and are distributed pretty generally over the world. 
THE TURKEY. 
THE MELEAaRIN^ OR TURKEYS. 
Under this head we include the TurJceys and the Guinea-Fotol. 
Genus MELEAGRIS : Meleagris. — To this belongs our Common Wild Turkey, M. gallopavo 
— Dindon of the French — now known as a domestic fowl in most civilized countries, but which 
was confined to America until after its discovery by Columbus ; it was probably introduced into 
Europe by the Spaniards about the year 1530. It was found in the forests of North America from 
the Isthmus of Darien to Canada when the country was first settled, being then abundant even in 
New England ; at present a few are found in the mountains of Massachusetts, New York, and 
New Jersey ; in the Western and Southwestern States they are still numerous, though constantly 
diminishing before the extending and increasing settlements. The wild male bird is three to 
four feet long, and weighs from fifteen to forty pounds ; its color is black, glossed with purple and 
bronzed green ; the head and neck are covered with a bare carunculated skin, and at the base of 
the bill there is a singular fleshy appendage, which is usually of considerable length. The breast 
is ornamented with a tuft of long black wiry hair. 
The habits of these birds in their native wilds are exceedingly curious. The males, called 
Gobblers, associate in parties of from ten to a hundred, and seek their food apart from the females, 
which either go about singly with their young, at that time about two-thirds grown, or form 
troops with other females and their families, sometimes to the amount of seventy or eighty. 
