WILD TURKEY 
The Eastern wild turkey, now nearly extinct, is the largest and grandest 
of American birds. One bird may weigh from twenty to thirty pounds and 
will furnish delicious food for the largest family. Wild turkeys were so 
abundant a hundred years ago that a full-sized bird sold for as little as 
twenty-five cents. These are the birds which afforded the Pilgrim Fathers 
their first Thanksgiving dinner. 
The turkey is not, as some believe, a Turkish importation. On the 
contrary, it was for hundreds of years bred and domesticated by the Incas 
and Aztecs and was introduced into Europe from Mexico by Vasco da Gama 
in 1530. Its name is probably derived from its call, turk-turk-turk. 
In appearance wild turkeys resemble the familiar domestic gobblers. 
Like the domestic turkey cock, the male is notoriously vain. In the mating 
season, in April, he expands his body plumage, raises and spreads his fan¬ 
shaped tail, swells his naked head ornaments, droops and rattles his wing 
quills. Thus beautified, he struts about and gobbles for the delectation of 
his female admirers. At this season the cock has a peculiar mechanism for 
food storage. A large store of rich fat accumulates on his breast to supply 
him with energy for his extensive courtship. 
The males adopt separate tactics for hens above one year old and for 
debutantes. In courting the former they affect indifference and strut more 
pompously, awaiting advances on the part of the female. With the young 
ladies, they are more energetic and less pompous. Sometimes they rise from 
the ground, fly about the hen, and then alight to run for some yards at 
top speed, dragging wings and tail along the ground. Then drawing near 
the timid female, they allay her fears by purring. Turkey cocks have been 
known to fight one another viciously for the possession of a hen, both suitors 
sometimes meeting a warrior’s death. 
Turkey’s nests consist of a hollow scooped in the ground and lined 
with a few withered leaves. They are usually concealed beside a fallen 
tree or under a thicket of briars. The eggs, usually eight to fifteen in 
number, are a dull cream color, sprinkled with red dots. The females are 
so exceedingly cautious that they always approach the nest from a dif- 
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