26 Mr. H. E. Dresser on the Birds of Southern Texas . 
larly so on the rivers between San Antonio and the Rio Grande. 
My first Turkey-hunt was on the Upper Medina river, about 
forty miles from San Antonio; and I was fortunate enough to 
kill a couple of gobblers with the first two shots I fired, which 
was more than I expected, as I must confess that on first seeing 
them I felt a sensation something akin to what the Americans 
call (< buck-ague.” Since that I have killed many Turkeys in 
Texas, both for sport and the pot. The most I ever killed in 
one day was nine, all of which I shot from the roost one evening. 
They are very wary and difficult to approach during the day¬ 
time ; but by watching to see where they roost, and paying them 
a visit there by moonlight, one can be pretty sure of bagging 
one or two. They generally prefer roosting in high cotton¬ 
wood trees on the banks of a stream, and perch as high up as 
possible. I once counted eleven on one large bough of a cotton¬ 
wood tree on the Medina. When the pecan-nuts are ripe, the 
Turkeys become very fat, as they are extremely fond of these 
nuts, which are oily. I shot an unusually fat bird in November 
1863; and taking it to San Antonio to have it weighed, I found 
it, without its entrails (for I had drawn them in order to keep 
it as fresh as possible), to weigh nearly sixteen pounds. 
I never succeeded in finding a Turkey’s nest, but was told by 
hunters who had done so that the birds scratch a hole in the 
ground, or make a sort of nest in the grass under a bush, and 
that the eggs resemble those of the tame Turkey, but are rather 
smaller and more elongated in form. The Mexicans on the 
Upper Rio Grande sometimes have the Wild Turkey domesti¬ 
cated; and at Piedras Negras I saw two which had been caught 
when quite young and had become very tame. The female was 
then sitting, and I had an opportunity of examining the eggs, 
which I found to agree with the description of those found by 
the hunters. 
Cupidonia cupido (Linnaeus). Pinnated Grouse, or Prairie- 
chicken. 
In travelling from Brownsville to Victoria, after leaving the 
chapparral and entering the prairie-country, I found this bird 
very common; and throughout the whole of the prairie-country 
of Texas it was abundant. 
