130 
THE TURKEY. 
such cases, the nest is constantly guarded by one of 
the parties, so that no crow, raven, nor even pole- 
cat, dares approach it. 
“The mother will not forsake her eggs, when near 
hatching, while life remains ; she will suffer an en- 
closure to be made around and imprison her, rather 
than abandon her charge. Mr Audubon witnessed 
the hatching of a brood, while thus endeavouring to 
secure the young and mother. 1 1 have lain flat,’ 
says he, ‘ within a very few feet, and seen her gent- 
ly rise from the eggs, look anxiously towards them, 
chuck with a sound peculiar to the mother on such 
an occasion, remove carefully each half empty shell, 
and with her bill caress and dry the younglings, that 
already stand tottering and attempting to force their 
way out of the nest.’ 
“ When the process of incubation is ended, and 
the mother is about to retire from the nest with her 
young brood, she shakes herself violently, picks and 
adjusts the feathers about the belly, and assumes a 
different aspect ; her eyes are alternately inclined 
obliquely upwards and sideways ; she stretches forth 
her neck in every direction, to discover birds of prey 
or other enemies ; her wings are partially spread, and 
she softly clucks to keep her tender offspring close 
to her side. They proceed slowly, and, as the hatch- 
ing generally occurs in the afternoon, they some- 
times return to pass the night in the nest. While 
very young, the mother leads them to elevated dry 
places, as if aware that humidity, during the first few 
