THE WILD TUKKEY. 117 
maternal affection is unwearied, and it is 
often sever-ely tried ; she is surrounded by- 
enemies, and must guard her eggs with the 
utmost vigilance. To say nothing of her 
partner, who would delight to crush them if 
he could, there is the cunning lynx, a species 
of wild cat, prowling in the branches overhead, 
and peering through them with his fierce 
bright eyes. There is the snake, always 
watching an opportunity to gratify his love 
for eggs, and well-known propensity to steal 
them. And last, but not less mischievous, 
there is the crow, perched upon the tree close 
by, and only waiting till the mother turns her 
back, to be down upon her nest, and despoil 
it. He would carry off every one of her 
eggs, and hide them in some safe place, that 
he might devour them at his leisure. So if 
she leaves her nest, only for a few seconds, 
she covers it carefully over with dried leaves, 
that it may not be distinguished from the 
mass of withered foliage around it. And 
when she comes back, she takes a different 
path, so that there may be no beaten track to 
point out the way to it. And if, when she is 
sitting, the wolf or the fox, or even the hunter 
