236 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
red kinickinick berry which grows on the high ridges and plateaus in our 
mountains. When acorns, pinyon, and pine nuts, and other foods may 
be buried deep under snow, the Turkeys may find kinickinick berries on 
the high ridges and high places from which the snow blows off. Mason 
Chase tells about the wild Turkeys hunting out, or at least finding and 
appropriating, caches of nuts made by rodents. He says this occurred 
during a time when deep snow covered up all the Turkey’s food except 
the buds of shrubs” (MS). 
While each encounter with one of these magnificent birds is notable, 
the discovery of a roost is among the thrilling experiences of the natural¬ 
ist. When in the Manzano Mountains, Mr. Gaut found besides a 
few scattering flocks, several old deserted Turkey roosts, and one still 
in use. They were at an altitude of about 8,500 feet in yellow pines on 
benches above dry canyon beds. At the occupied roost the birds would 
“ congregate about dusk, scatter in the different trees—usually those 
not having many close branches—and leave in the mornings before 
sunrise in the direction of a spring where they secured water” (MS). 
Though descending as low as the nut pines to feed in winter, Mr. 
Ligon finds that the turkeys “usually retire to the highest and most 
secluded areas of their range to nest” and “after the young are hatched, 
two to three females generally unite with their broods and raise the 
young in one big family. In conducting their difficult nesting activities,” 
he adds, the female turkeys display rare foresight and courage (1927, p. 
113). 
In June and July, 1919, Mr. Ligon saw considerable Turkey sign 
about the head of the Pecos, and when out attending bear traps at about 
10,000 feet, southeast of Pecos Baldy, Mr. J. T. McMullin and he saw 
five large Turkeys under a lone spruce on the edge of a park enclosed 
by heavy timber. They had presumably been feeding in the park and 
taken shelter from a heavy rain under the dense spruce. A few minutes 
later, about three hundred yards down the mountainside in a thick grove 
of quaking aspens, the men rode onto a hen Turkey hovering her young 
in an effort to keep them dry from the downpouring rain. She ran off 
while the young, apparently eight in number, flew farther down the 
mountain taking refuge in the top branches of a tall aspen, where 
they were almost invisible among the leaves in the rain. They were 
apparently about a month old, which means that the hen began laying 
early in May when most of that district was well covered with snow. 
If the nest was lower, it was probably not below 9,000 feet (MS). 
On October 23, 1920, Mr. Jensen shot two birds in the Santa Fe 
region and the following day another. All were young weighing from 
eight to ten pounds each. On October 23, 1921, he met a flock of twelve 
in the Santa Fe Canyon, less than six miles from the city. He says that 
the feathers of the Turkeys are highly prized by the Pueblo Indians of 
