364 
BIRDS. 
duce new inclinations. A hen when she becomes 
the parent of a family is no longer the same crea- 
ture. She was formerly ravenous and insatiable ; 
but at present, if she finds a grain of corn, a crumb 
of bread, or even something more considerable in 
quantity, and capable of being divided, she never 
touches it herself, but gives intelligence to her troop 
by a note of invitation they all understand. This 
mother, naturally timorous, and who before knew 
nothing but flight, seems no longer acquainted with 
danger, but is so courageous at the head of a troop 
of chickens, that she will spring at the eyes of the 
stoutest dog, and defend her offspring to the last. 
One instance will be sufficient to show the anxiety 
of the mother for the welfare of her young, and the 
instinctive sagacity of these little creatures for their 
own preservation in the time of danger. When a 
hen turkey appears at the head of her young, she is 
sometimes heard to send forth a very mournful cry, 
the cause and intention of which are unknown. 
The brood immediately squat under bushes, grass, 
or whatever else presents itself for their purpose. 
They entirely disappear ; or, if they have not a suf- 
ficient covering, they stretch themselves on the 
ground, and lie as if they were dead : they are seen 
to continue in this posture for a considerable time, 
without the smallest motion. In the mean while 
the mother directs her view upwards with an air of 
fear and confusion ; she redoubles her sighs, and re- 
peats the cry that laid all her young prostrate. Those 
who observe the disorder of this parent, and her 
