well aware of the advantages resulting from such intrusions, the halfbreed
being much more hardy than the tame, and, consequently, more
easily reared.
While at Henderson, on the Ohio, I had, among many other wild
birds, a fine male Turkey, which had been reared from its earliest youth
under my care, it having been caught by me when probably not more than
two or three days old. It became so tame that it would follow any person
who called it, and was the favourite of the little village. Yret it would never
roost with the tame Turkeys, but regularly betook itself at night to the roof
of the house, where it remained until dawn. When two years old, it began
to fly to the woods, where it remained for a considerable part of the
day, to return to the enclosure as night approached. It continued this
practice until the following spring, when I saw it several times fly from
its roosting place to the top of a high cotton-tree, on the bank of the
Ohio, from which, after resting a little, it would sail to the opposite shore,
the river being there nearly half a mile wide, and return towards night.
One morning I saw it fly off, at a very early hour, to the woods, in another
direction, and took no particular notice of the circumstance. Several
days elapsed, but the bird did not return. I was going towards some
lakes near Green River to shoot, when, having walked about five miles,
I saw a fine large gobbler cross the path before me, moving leisurely along.
Turkeys being then in prime condition for the table, I ordered my dog
to chase it, and put it up. The animal went off with great rapidity, and
as i t approached the Turkey, I saw, with great surprise, that the latter
paid little attention. Juno was on the point of seizing it, when she
suddenly stopped, and turned her head towards me. I hastened to them,
but you may easily conceive my surprise when I saw my own favourite
bird, and discovered that it had recognised the dog, and would not fly
from i t ; although the sight of a strange dog would have caused it to run
off at once: A friend of mine happening to be in search of a wounded
deer, took the bird on his saddle before him, and carried it home for me.
The'following'spring- it was accidentally shot, having been taken for a
wild bird, and brought to me on being recognised by the red ribbon
which it had around its neck. Pray, reader, by what word will you designate
the recognition made by my favourite Turkey of a dog which had
been long associated with it in the yard and grounds ? Was it the result
of instinct, or of reason,—an unconsciously revived impression, or
the act of an intelligent mind ?
At the time when I removed to Kentucky, rather more than a fourth
of a century ago, Turkeys were so abundant, that the price of one in the
market was not equal to that of a common barn-fowl now. I have seen
them offered for the sum of three pence each, the birds weighing from
ten to twelve pounds. A first-rate Turkey, weighing from twenty-five
to thirty pounds avoirdupois, was considered well sold when it brought
a quarter of a dollar.
The weight of Turkey hens generally averages about nine pounds
avoirdupois. I have, however, shot barren hens in strawberry season,
that weighed thirteen pounds, and have seen a few so fat as to burst open
on falling from a tree when shot. Male Turkeys differ more in their bulk
and weight. From fifteen to eighteen pounds may be a fair estimate of
their ordinary weight. I saw one offered for sale in the Louisville market,
that weighed thirty-six pounds. Its pectoral appendage measured
upwards of a foot.
Some closet naturalists suppose the hen Turkey to be destitute of the
appendage on the breast, but this is not the case in the full-grown bird.
The young males, as I have said, at the approach of the first winter, have
merely a kind of protuberance in the flesh at this part, while the young
females of the same age have no such appearance. The second year, the
males are to be distinguished by the hairy tuft, which is about four
inches long, whereas in the females that are not barren, it is yet hardly apparent.
The third year, the male Turkey may be said to be adult, although
it certainly increases in weight and size for several years more.
The females at the age of four are in full beauty, and have the pectoral
appendage four or five inches long, but thinner than in the male. The
barren hens do not acquire it until they are very old. The experienced
hunter knows them at once in the flock, and shoots them by preference.
The great number of young hens destitute of the appendage in question,
has doubtless given rise to the idea that it is wanting in the female
Turkey.
The long downy double feathers * about the thighs and on the lower
parts of the sides of the Wild Turkey, are often used for making tippets,
• The peculiarities in the structure of the plumage of different species of birds might,
if duly attended to, prove of essential service to the systematic ornithologist, as conducing,
along with other circumstances, to the elucidation of the natural affinities of birds. On
this subject, I would refer the system-makers to the valuable observations of Mr MACGILIIVKAY
in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1820.