(Mt.) Tom in 1842, a few in 1845, and a single turkey in 
1851. A few remained on (Mt.) Holyoke nearly as long. 
All are gone. . . . 
“I have been told that many years since, the initials of 
several Hadley Turkey-hunters might be seen in the bark 
of a white birch tree near the path over Holyoke, called by 
the hunters, Turkey Pass. 
“About 1800, when a boy, I often saw small flocks of 
Wild Turkeys in the woods near my father’s; observed their 
tracks in the snow in the winter, and heard their gobbling 
in the spring. 
“The old writers of several colonies tell large stories 
about the weight of some Wild Turkeys, reporting it to be 
from 40 to 50 pounds. Vanderdonck, more moderate, says 
fat ones weigh from 20 to 30 pounds. In Northhampton, 
Mr. Birge killed only two or three that weighed 24 pounds, 
and Mr. Warner’s largest weighed only 18 pounds. These 
weights were before the Turkeys were dressed.” (Judd, 
Sylvester, “History of Hadley, Mass.,” 1863, p. 358-359.) 
From evidence gathered by Robert O. Morris (“Birds of 
Springfield and Vicinity,” 1901, p. 43), the last Wild Turkey 
known to have been killed in Massachusetts was in 1852. 
That a few still lingered and finally disappeared may well 
have been the case, though of this there is slight proof. 
In a brief note to Forest and Stream, in 1889, vol. 33, p. 346, 
Milton P. Pierce writes, “Thirty years ago Wild Turkeys 
were frequently reported to have been seen on Mt. Tom.” 
This, if his words are to be taken at face value, would have 
been in 1859, seven years after Mr. Morris’ last date. 
Pierce recounts the experience of a friend who saw one fly 
across from Mt. Holyoke, but omits the date. He then 
writes: “Soon after the first battle of Fredericksburg, which 
must have been twenty-six years ago (1863), I came up 
from our regiment ... to friends at Easthampton, at the 
foot of the western slope of Mt. Tom. The day I was there 
a party from East Hampton went to Mount Tom hunting 
for gray squirrels, and upon their return reported having 
