86 
WILD TURKEY. 
the spot, that he may devour them at leisure. The nest is placed 
on the ground, either on a dry ridge, in the fallen top of a dead 
leafy tree, under a thicket of sumach or briars, or by the side of a 
log; it is of a very simple structure, being composed of a few dried 
leaves. In this receptacle the eggs are deposited, sometimes to 
the number of twenty, but more usually from nine to fifteen; they 
are whitish, spotted with reddish-brown, like those of the domestic 
bird. Their manner of building, number of eggs, period of incu¬ 
bation, <fcc. appear to correspond throughout the Union, as I have 
received exactly similar accounts from the northern limits of the 
Turkey range, to the most southern regions of Florida, Louisiana, 
and the western wilds of Missouri. 
The female always approaches her nest with great caution, vary¬ 
ing her course so as rarely to reach it twice by the same route; 
and, on leaving her charge, she is very careful to cover the whole 
with dry leaves, with which she conceals it so artfully, as to make 
it extremely difficult, even for one who has watched her movements, 
to indicate the exact spot: hence few nests are found, and these 
are generally discovered by fortuitously starting the female from 
them, or by the appearance of broken shells, scattered around by 
some cunning Lynx, Fox, or Crow. When laying or sitting, the 
Turkey hen is not readily driven from her post by the approach of 
apparent danger; but if an enemy appears, she crouches as low 
as possible, and suffers it to pass. A circumstance related by Mr. 
Audubon, will show how much intelligence they display on such 
occasions: having discovered a sitting hen, he remarked that, by 
assuming a careless air, whistling, or talking to himself, he was 
permitted to pass within five or six feet of her; but, if he advanced 
cautiously, she would not suffer him to come within twenty paces, 
but ran off twenty or thirty yards with her tail expanded, when, 
assuming a stately gait, she paused on every step, occasionally 
uttering a chuck. They seldom abandon their nests on account of 
being discovered by man, but should a snake or any other animal 
