230 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
they have become scarcer (MS).” Mr. William H. Bartlett wrote that at one 
time he released about three hundred Ring-necks on Ills Vermejo Park ranch, 
but added, “being ground nesting birds they were destroyed by the wild animals 
and none are now living (MS).” Mr. Aldo Leopold writes that in 1916 a number of 
Ring-necked Pheasants were liberated in the Rio Grande Valley and that he after¬ 
ward saw one individual in the neighborhood of Albuquerque, but that they seem to 
have disappeared since then (MS). 
Nest. —Usually in open fields, in a tussock of grass or perhaps under a small bush; 
made of leaves, grass, straws, etc. Eggs: Generally 6 to 12, olive brown to pale blue 
or bluish green. 
Food. —Grain (largely waste), weed seed and insect pests, including alfalfa web- 
worms; the chicks being especially fond of aphids, flea beetles, etc. 
“Its economic status depends upon local conditions; harmful to truck gardens and 
field crops in certain localities, at certain seasons and under certain conditions; 
neutral or useful in other localities, at other seasons and under different conditions” 
(Henderson, 1927, 185). 
General Habits. —“The Pheasant,” we are told by Mr. W. T. 
Shaw in his book on the China Pheasant in Oregon, “is primarily a bird 
of the fields, showing only a slight tendency to seek the shelter of the 
foothills during winter. . . In the brush of the lowlands, or from the 
open meadow, comes his two-syllabled call in the stillness of the evening 
twilight. From his roost among the grass or sedge tussocks, or the great 
moss-covered branches of an oak, he springs away into the gloom with a 
startled cry. Throughout the long dry summer the young are reared by 
the female, until the days of autumn come; the male meanwhile fre¬ 
quently greeting you by the roadside with a glance of curiosity mingled 
with reserve, standing a moment, erect, in all his brightness of coloration, 
ducking an instant later to steal silently away among the grass” (Shaw,- 
1908, pp. 18-19). 
Additional Literature.—Bade, August, Calif. Fish and Game, XIII, 77-92, 
1927 (game bird farming).— Beebe, William, A monograph of the Pheasants, 1918- 
1922; Pheasants, their lives and homes, 1926.— McAtee, W. L., U. S. Dept. Agr. 
Farmers’ Bull. 1521, 13-36, 1927 (propagation).— Oldys, Henry. —U. S. Dept. 
Agr. Farmers’ Bull. 390, 1910 (propagation). 
TURKEYS: Family Meleagridae 
The turkeys have both head and neck naked, wrinkled, and wattled, 
with an erectile process on the crown, a dewlap on the throat, and spurs 
on the legs. It is an American family, a Mexican form being the 
progenitor of the domestic stock, which was established in Europe in 
1530 (Eaton). 
WILD TURKEY: Meleagris gallopavo silvestris Vieillot 
Description. —Similar to Meleagris g. merriami (p. 231), but tail tipped with 
deep rusty, and the coverts and feathers of the lower rump rich dark chestnut, in¬ 
stead of buffy whitish. 
Range. —Eastern United States. From Nebraska east to Pennsylvania and 
Virginia and south to Gulf coast and northeastern New Mexico. 
