Vol. XCI MARCH, 1921 No. 3 
THE HAUNTS OF THE WILD TURKEY 
THIS NOBLE BIRD IS INDIGENOUS ONLY TO NORTH AMERICA AND BEING 
THE LARGEST OF OUR GAME BIRDS IS EAGERLY SOUGHT BY SPORTSMEN 
Meleagris gallopavo silvestris. 
Meleagris gallopavo osceola. 
Meleagris gallopavo intermedia. 
Meleagris gallopavo merriami. 
R IGHT here let it be said that the 
word Meleagris is from the Latin, 
and means guinea-fowl. Gallopavo 
is also from the Latin, gallus, a cock, 
and pavo, a pea-fowl; while the mean- 
ing of the words silvestris, osceola, in- 
termedia and merriami are self-evident 
and require no definition. Also they 
apply merely to the geographic sub- 
species that have been developed by the 
varied character of the environments 
surrounding the parent stock. These 
geographic phases are usually charac- 
terized only by slight differences in 
marking and color; by paler and grayer 
shades in the arid regions, and by dark- 
er and browner ones in the humid 
areas. 
Early European writers mistook the 
turkey for the African guinea-fowl, and 
he was misnamed. Later writers thought 
from his pompous demeanor and gorge- 
ous plumage he surely must be a pea- 
fowl, and he was again misnamed! Be- 
ing thus improperly classified by our 
early ornithologists, the historic dis- 
cussion of the wild turkey has resulted 
in volumes of dry data that are wholly 
uninteresting to the sportsman. 
As the early Spanish explorers were 
the first white men to observe the tur- 
key, and even at that early date in a 
state of domestication, it takes little 
stretch of the imagination to conclude 
that the word “turkey” is a Spanish 
corruption of the Indian name “Fur- 
kee”, as all of the Indian tribes inhabit- 
ing its domain invariably apply this ap- 
pellation to this truly American abor- 
igine, the wild turkey. 
The wild turkey is indigenous only to 
North America, and is not only the 
largest of our gallinaceous game birds, 
but the one most prized by our sports- 
men. His gorgeous burnished bronze 
By HERSCHEL ROBINSON 
plumage, reflecting lustrous metallic 
rays of red, blue, purple and irridescent 
green, harmoniously blending into cop- 
per, combined with his symmetrical 
form and stately bearing mark him at 
once as the peerless chief of our feath- 
ered game in every aggregation of the 
feathered tribe. 
The common wild turkey, Meleagris g. 
silvestris, is admittedly the parent 
stock, and is still found from Virginia, 
west to Missouri, thence south to the 
gulf. The three geographic subspecies, 
osceola, intermedia and merriami are 
found, respectively in the humid 
swamps of Florida; throughout Old 
Mexico, and in the arid regions of New 
Mexico, Arizona and that part of Colo- 
rado west of the Continental Divide. 
This latter phase resembles the domes- 
tic turkey so minutely that it is gen- 
A successful turkey hunter 
erally regarded as the progenitor of the 
farmyard variety. 
The sportsman need concern himself 
only with the race at hand, since the 
chief differences are slight ones in the 
matter of marking and shade of colora- 
tion. The habits of the entire genus 
being identical whether found in the 
mountains of North Carolina, in the 
swamps of Florida, or on the plains of 
Texas and Arizona; and as a turkey 
hunter’s success depends largely upon 
his knowledge of the habits of his 
quarry, I trust this article may prove 
of interest to the ever-increasing army 
of sportsmen who have not had the ad- 
vantage of a personal acquaintance with 
this gorgeous bird of beard and bronze. 
T HE wild turkey differs little from 
its domestic relative in the matter 
of nesting, rearing the young, etc. 
The hens begin to lay in Api’il in their 
southern haunts, and in May further 
north. Fifteen eggs are the average 
size clutch. The period of incubation 
lasts four weeks, during which time the 
hen turkey is the most persistent sitter 
of any known bird. The nest is merely 
a shallow basin-like depression lined 
with leaves or grass, and is usually near 
a stump, log or bush, and almost in- 
variably on a ridge that is above inun- 
dation by the ordinary spring rains. 
The turkey also shows a strong fond- 
ness for building her nest near a trail; 
possibly because her natural enemies 
are frightened off by passers-by, or if 
using the path themselves, are intently 
enroute, and pass her by unnoticed. 
Little time is given to the selection or 
construction of the nest, but when com- 
pleted there is no creature so wary in 
approaching or departing from it. Also 
extreme caution is used to completely 
cover the eggs with leaves or grass be- 
fore leaving the nest. This is done to 
hide the eggs from predatory animals, 
and from that ubiquitous thief and ne- 
farious robber, the crow. 
