THE POULTRY BOOR. 
269 
a good quantity, and from that into the trap. Hero they find still more, and they 
fall to work like a parcel of gluttons and gorge themselves. 
When they .are full they raise up their heads, and, seeing into what kind of 
a place they have been led, try to make their egress. They endeavour to force 
their way out of the side and top of the pen, hut never for a moment think of 
looking downwards, or trying to escape by the passage through which they entered. 
They therefore remain there until the owner of the trap arrives and secures his 
booty. 
Professor Spencer Baird, one of the highest scientific authorities on ornithological 
subjects, in his great work on the birds of North America, states distinctly that 
the wild turkey of Eastern North America differs in several points, both in 
structure and manners, from the domesticated birds : the latter possess a largo 
dewlap, extending from the base of the lower jaw to the large caruncles on the 
lower part of the neck. 
‘‘The domestic turkey, even those showing the closest rosemhlance to the wild 
birds, may always ho distinguished by a whitish tip to the tail, and by the tail 
coverts being edged with whitish, which is never seen in the wild bird. 
‘‘ Again, the wild turkey is stated never to have been so domesticated as to 
breed in confinement, notwithstanding the repeated efforts made to accomplish 
this result ; again, the difference of the colour of the flesh in the two birds is 
considerable, that of the wild bird being much darker. 
‘‘ On the whole, it is exceedingly probable that the two breeds are specifically 
distinct.” 
Professor Baird supports the following hypothesis That, in addition to 
the three well-known species of Meleagris, namely M, Ocellata, from Central 
America ; M. Americana, the wild American species ; and M. Mexicana, the 
Mexican species, there originally existed a distinct breed, the original of our 
domesticated breed ; that this was indigenous to the West India Islands, and was 
transplanted as tamed to Mexico, and from thence taken to Europe in 1520 ; and 
that ultimately the wild original was exterminated by the natives, and no longer 
exists in the wild state. This hypothesis will explain the fact of our nowhere 
meeting with any wild turkeys of the present day, closely resembling the domestic 
breed.” 
This conclusion appears, at least, to possess a high degree of probability ; never- 
theless, some of our distinguished naturalists have entertained a different opinion. 
Thus, Mr. Gould, in a communication made to the Zoological Society in 1856, 
respecting the existence of the Mexican species, which had not previously been 
described, states : — - 
In the lapse of time the origin of several of the animals which man has 
subjected to his dominion, and which are of the greatest service to his necessities, 
or his pleasures, has become involved in obscurity. As instances, we may point 
among quadrupeds to the camel, the horse, and the dog ; and among birds, to the 
various poultry birds, water-fowls, and pigeons, all of which were derived from 
