WILD TURKEY. 
361 
and black in others. Tame turkeys sometimes occur of an 
immaculate black colour ; others are exclusively white ; some 
are speckled or variegated ; and all these varieties are con- 
tinued by propagation, under analogous circumstances. In the 
wild state, a white, or even a speckled turkey, is unknown ; 
and we may venture to say,' that a plain black one has hardly 
ever occurred. 
Moehring proposed the name of Cynchramus for this genus, 
as the term Meleagris was used by the ancients to indicate a 
different bird. All other naturalists have agreed with Linne, 
who, though fully aware of the fact, made use of the name we 
have adopted. But he included in the genus two allied species, 
which Gmelin very properly rejected, and placed ima separate 
genus, which he called Penelope^ considering the turkey as sui 
generis, Latham again rendered the genus unnatural, by re- 
storing one of the objectionable Linnean species, perceiving 
that it was not properly placed in Penelope ; it is, in truth, a 
Phasianus, As now characterised, the present genus is exclu- 
sively American ; and, by the discovery of a beautiful species 
closely allied to that of the United States, it now -consists of 
two species. The ocellated turkey [Meleagris ocelata) inhabits 
Honduras, and may be distinguished from the common species 
by its smaller size, more brilliant plumage, and principally by 
having ocellated spots on the tail. It was first described by 
Cuvier, and has lately been figured in that magnificent periodi- 
cal work, the “ Planches Coloriees^^ of Temminck and Laugier. 
A beautiful specimen has long been exhibited in the Charles- 
ton Museum.* 
* Mr Audubon has recorded the following anecdote of a turkey, which he 
kept for some years in a tame state : — 
“ While at Henderson, on the Ohio, I had, among many other wild birds, a 
fine male turkey, which had been reared from its earliest youth under my care, 
it having been caught by me when probably not more than two or three days 
old. It became so tame that it would follow any person who called it, and was 
the favourite of the little village. Yet it would never roost with the tame tur- 
keys, but regularly betook itself, at night, to the roof of the house, where it re- 
mained until dawn. When two years old, it began to fly to the woods, where 
it remained for a considerable part of the day, to return to the enclosure as night 
approached. One morning I saw it fly off, at a very early hour, to the woods, 
