of the Turkey. 69 
Size. ' The fees of the wild Turkies have been dif- 
ferently reprefen ted. Some writers affert, that 
there have been inftances of their weighing fixty 
pounds ; but I find none who, fpeaking from 
their own knowlege, can prove their weight to 
be above forty. josselyn fays, that he has 
eaten part of a cock, which after it was plucked, 
and the entrails taken out, weighed thirty*. 
lawson, whofe authority is unqueftionable, faw 
half a Turkey ferve eight ^hungry men for two 
meals t ; and fays, that he had feen others which 
he believed weighed forty pounds, catesby tells 
us, that out of the many hundreds which he had 
handled §., very few exceeded thirty pounds ; 
each of thefe fpeak of their being double that fize 
merely from the reports of others. 
Manners.. The manners of thefe birds are as lingular as 
their figure. Their attitudes in the feafon of court- 
fhip are very ttriking. The males fling their heads 
and neck backwards, brittle up their feathers, drop 
their wings to the ground, ftrut and pace moft ridi- 
culoufly ; wheel round the females with theh 
wings ruffling along the earth, at the fame time 
emitting a ftrange found through their noftrils 
Notes. not unlike the Grurr of a great fpinning wheel. 
On being interrupted they fly into great rages, and 
change their notes into a loud and guttural gobble, 
* New England Rarities, p. 8. 
+ Hiftory of Carolina, p. 149. and 27. 
§ App. XLIV. The greateft certain weight is given by Mr. clayton, who 
faw one that reached 38 lbs. Phil. Tranf* 
and 
