wild turkey. 
643 
leaves, is made by the side of a fallen log, or beneath 
the shelter of a thicket, in a dry place. The eggs, from 
10 to 15, are whitish, covered with red dots. While lay- 
ing, the female, like the domestic bird, always approach- 
es the nest with great caution, varying the course at al- 
most every visit, and often concealing her eggs entirely by 
covering them with leaves. Trusting to the similarity of 
her homely garb with the withered foliage around her, 
the hen, as with several other birds, on being carefully 
approached, sits close, without moving. She seldom in- 
deed abandons her nest, and her attachment increases 
with the growing life of her charge. The domestic bird, 
has been known, not unfrequently, to sit steadfastly on 
her eggs, until she died of hunger. As soon as the young 
have emerged from the shell, and begun to run about, 
the parent, by her cluck, calls them around her, and 
watches with redoubled suspicion the approach of their 
enemies, which she can perceive at an almost inconceiv- 
able distance. To avoid moisture, which might prove 
fatal to them, they now keep on the higher sheltered 
knolls ; and in about a fortnight, instead of roosting on 
the ground, they begin to fly, at night, to some wide and 
low branch, where they still continue to nestle under the 
extended wings of their protecting parent. At length they 
resort during the day to more open tracts, or prairies, in 
quest of berries of various kinds, as well as grasshoppers, 
and other insects. The old birds are very partial to pe- 
can-nuts, winter grapes, and other kinds of fruits. They 
also eat buds, herbs, grain, and large insects ; but their 
most general and important fare is acorns, after which 
they make extensive migrations. By the month of Au- 
gust the young are nearly independent of their parent, 
and become enabled to attain a safe roost in the higher 
branches of the trees. The young cocks, now show the 
