CURRASSOWS AND GUANS 
137 
Over most of the country where the wild turkeys were once plenty 
they have now become scarce or extinct, but in a few places may 
still be found in something like their original abundance, living 
much as their ancestors lived, breeding unmolested, strolling through 
the woods in flocks, and gathering at night in goodly numbers in 
their favorite roosting-places. Perhaps the best of these undevastated 
regions are on the big stock ranches of southern Texas, where the 
birds are protected not by loosely formed and unenforced game laws, 
but by the care of owners of large ranches, who would as soon 
think of exterminating their herds of cattle as of shooting more than 
the normal increase of game under their control. Here, at least 
through the breeding season, the turkeys are not more wary than 
many of the other large birds, and as we surprised them in the half 
open mesquite woods along the Nueces River would rarely fly, 
merely sneaking into the thickets, or at most running from us. 
The ranchmen say that the turkeys always select trees over water 
to roost in when possible, and no doubt they do it for protection in 
this region where foxes, coyotes, and wildcats abound. On the 
edge of the flooded bottoms of the Nueces River they roosted in the 
partially submerged huisache trees. A loud gobble just at dusk led 
us to their cover, and crouching low to get the sky for a background 
we could see the big forms coming in singly or in twos or threes, 
and hear the strong wing beats as they passed on to alight in the 
huisaches out in the water. When the noise of their wings and the 
rattling of branches had subsided, with a few gobbles from different 
quarters they settled down for the night. The next morning, as 
the darkness began to thin and a light streak appeared in the east, a 
long loud gobble broke the stillness, followed by gobble after gob¬ 
ble from awakening birds in different parts of the bottoms, and 
before it was half daylight the heavy whisk whisk of big wings 
passed overhead, as the turkeys with strong, rapid flight took their 
way back to the higher ridges. Vernon Bailey. 
FAMILY CRACIDiE: CURRASSOWS AND GUANS. 
GENUS ORTALIS. 
311. Ortalis vetula maccalli Baird. Chachalaca. 
Adults. — Upper parts plain olive, slightly glossed with bronzy green ; 
head and neck tinged with dull slaty ; tail fan-shaped, from dusky bronzy 
green to blue black, fan, except for middle feathers, broadly bordered 
with white ; bare skin on throat orange ; chest dull grayish green ; rest of 
under parts dingy buffy brownish, deepening on under tail coverts. 
Length : 19.75-24.00, wing 7.50-8.50, tail 9.00-10.50. 
Distribution. — Resident in northeastern Mexico, from Vera Cruz north 
to lower Rio Grande valley in Texas. 
Nest. — Usually in a twig-and-leaf-filled cavity of a mesquite-tree. 
Eggs: 3 or 4, white, rough, and strongly granulated. 
