644 
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 
tuft of hair upon the breast, and begin to strut and gob- 
ble, and the young hens already pur and leap. 
One of the most crafty enemies which the Wild Turkey 
has to encounter is the Lynx or Wild Cat, who frequent- 
ly seizes his prey by advancing round, and waiting its 
approach in ambush. Like most other Gallinaceous 
birds they are fond of wallowing on the ground and 
dusting themselves. 
When approached by moonlight, they are readily shot 
from their roosting-tree, one after another, without any 
apprehension of their danger, though they would dodge 
or fly instantly at the sight of the Owl. The gobblers, 
during the season of their amorous excitement, have been 
known even to strut over their dead companions while 
on the ground, instead of seeking their own safety by 
flight. 
In the spring, the male Turkeys, are called by a whistle 
made of the second joint bone of the wing of the bird, 
which produces a sound somewhat similar to the voice of 
the female ; and on coming up to this call they are con- 
sequently shot. They are likewise commonly caught in 
quadrangular pens made of logs crossing each other, from 
which is cut a slanting covered passage sufficient to allow 
the entrance of the Turkey. Corn is then scattered in 
a train to this cage for some distance, as well as within ; 
and the neighbouring birds, in the surrounding woods, 
having discovered the grain, call on each other by a 
clucking, and entering one at a time, they become secured 
in the pen, as, for the purpose of escape, they constantly 
direct their view upwards, instead of stooping to go out 
by the path by which they had entered. 
The male Wild Turkey weighs commonly from 15 to 
18 pounds, is not unfrequently as much as 25, and some- 
times, according to Audubon, even 36. The hen com- 
