WILD TURKEY. 
173 
delicious prey before me ; upon which I changed my 
object, and levelled my piece at him. At that instant 
my companion, at a distance, also discharged his piece, 
the report of which alarmed the flock of turkeys, and 
my fellow-hunter, the cat, sprang over the log, and 
trotted off.” 
These birds are guardians of each other, and the first 
who sees a hawk or eagle gives a note of alarm, on 
which all within hearing lie close to the ground. As 
they usually roost in flocks, perched on the naked 
branches of trees, they are easily discovered by the 
large owls, and, when attacked by these prowling birds, 
often escape by a somewhat remarkable manoeuvre. 
The owl sails around the spot to select his prey ; but, 
notwithstanding the almost inaudible action of his 
pinions, the quick ear of one of the slumberers perceives 
the danger, which is immediately announced to the 
whole party b}^ a chuck; thus alarmed, they rise on 
their legs, and watch the motions of the owl, who, 
darting like an arrow, would inevitably secure the 
individual at w hich he aimed, did not the latter suddenly 
drop his head, squat, and spread his tail over his back ; 
the ow l then glances over without inflicting any injury, 
at the very instant that the turkey suffers himself to 
fall headlong towards the earth, where he is secure from 
his dreaded enemy. 
On hearing the slightest noise, wild turkeys conceal 
themselves in the grass, or among shrubs, and thus 
frequently escape the hunter, or the sharp-sighted birds 
of prey. The sportsman is unable to find them during 
the day, unless he has a dog trained for the purpose ; 
it is necessary to shoot them at a very short distance, 
since, w^hen only wounded, they quickly disappear, and, 
accelerating their motion by a sort of half flight, run 
with so much speed, that the swdftest hunter cannot 
overtake them. The traveller, driving rapidly down 
the declivity of one of the Alleghanies, may sometimes 
see several of them before him, that evince no urgent 
desire to get out of the road ; but, on alighting, in 
