126 
THE TURKEY. 
become so familiar as to venture on tbe plantations) 
and even approach so near the farm-houses as to en- 
ter the stables and corn-cribs in search of food ; in 
this way they pass the autumn, and part of the win- 
ter. During this season, great numbers are killed 
by the inhabitants, who preserve them in a frozen 
state, in order to transport them to a distant mar- 
ket. 
“ Early in March they begin to pair ; and, for a 
short time previous, the females separate from, and 
shun their mates, though the latter pertinaciously 
follow them, uttering their gobbling note. The sexes 
roost apart, but at no great distance, so that, when 
the female utters a call, every male within hearing 
responds, rolling note after note, in the most rapid 
succession ; not as when spreading the tail and strut- 
ting near the hen, but in a voice resembling that of 
the tame turkey, when he hears any unusual or fre- 
quently repeated noise. Where the turkeys are nu- 
merous, the woods, from one end to the other, some- 
times for hundreds of miles, resound with this re- 
markable voice of their wooing, uttered responsively 
from their roosting places. This is continued for 
about an hour ; and, on the rising of the sun, they 
silently descend from their perches, and the males 
begin to strut, for the purpose of winning the admi- 
ration of their mates. 
“ If the call be given from the ground, the males 
in the vicinity fly towards the individual, and, whe- 
ther they perceive her or not, erect and spread their 
