16 WILD TURKEY.
by the wives of our squatters and farmers. These tippets, when properly
made, are extremely beautiful-as well as comfortable.
A long account of the habits of this remarkable bird has already been
given in Bonaparte's American Ornithology, vol. i. As that account Avasin
a great measure derived from notes furnished by myself, you need not
be surprised, good reader, to find it often in accordance with the above.
Having now said all that I have thought it might be agreeable to you
to know of the history and habits of the Wild Turkey, I proceed to the
technical description of that interesting bird.
MELEAGRI* GALLOPAVO, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 268—Lath. Ind. Orrrith. p. 6 1 8 .
—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 1 2 2 .
W I L D TURKEY, Ch. Bonaparte, Americ. Ornith. vol. i. p. 79. PI. ix. Male and
Female.
AMERICAN TURKEY, Lath. Synops. vol. ii. p. 6 7 6 .
, Adult Male. Plate I.
Bill shortish, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse, the base covered
by a bare membrane; upper mandible with the dorsal outline arched,
the sides convex, the edges overlapping, the tip a little declinate; under
mandible somewhat bulging towards the tip, the sides convex. Nostrils
situated in the basal membrane, oblique, linear, covered above by a cartilage.
Head small, flattened above, with a conical pendulous, erectile
caruncle on the forehead. Neck slender. Body robust. Feet longish
and strong; tarsus covered anteriorly with numerous transverse scutella,"
scaly on the sides, scutellate behind ; toes scutellate above, scabrous,
papillar and flat beneath ; hind toe elevated, half the length of the lateral
toes, which are nearly equal, and much shorter than the middle toe;
claws slightly arched, strong, convex above, obtuse, flat beneath. A
conical, rather obtuse spur on the tarsus, about two-thirds down.
Conical papilla of the forehead rugose, sparsely covered with bristles.
Head bare, and corrugated, the skin irregularly raised, and covered with
a few scattered bristles. External ear margined with short and slender
thin feathers. Neck also bare, corrugated, beset anteriorly and below
with a series of oblong, irregular, cavernous caruncles, interspersed with
small bristly feathers. Plumage in general compact, glossy, with metallic
reflections. Feathers double, as in other gallinaceous birds, generally
oblong and truncated. A pendulous tuft of long bristles from the upper
W I L D TURKEY. 17
part of the breast. Wings shortish, convex, rounded, the fourth and
fifth quills longest. Tail rather long, ample, rounded, consisting of
eighteen broad rounded feathers; capable of being erected and expanded
in a permanent manner, when the bird is excited, and reaching nearly
to the ground, when the bird stands erect.
Bill yellowish-brown. Frontal caruncle blue and red. Rugose and
carunculated skin of the head and neck of various tints of blue and
purple, the pendulous anterior caruncles of the latter, or the wattles,
bright red, changing to blue. Iris hazel. Legs and toes bright purplishred
; claws brown. Upper part of the back and wings brownish-yellow,
with metallic lustre, changing to deep purple, the truncated tips of the
feathers broadly margined with velvet-black. On the middle and lower
back, the black terminal bands of the feathers almost conceal the bronze
colour. The large quill-coverts are of the same colour as the back, but
more bronzed, with purple reflections. Quills brownish-black, the primaries
banded with greyish-white, the secondaries with brownish-white,
gradually becoming deeper towards the proximal feathers, which are
similar to the coverts. The lower part of the back and the tail-coverts
are deep chestnut, banded with green and black. The tail-feathers are
of the same colour, undulatingly barred and minutely sprinkled with
black, and having a broad blackish bar towards the tip, which is pale
brown and minutely mottled. The under parts are duller. Breast of
the same colours as the back, the terminal black band not so broad ;
sides dark-coloured; abdomen and thighs brownish-grey; under tailcoverts
blackish, glossed with bronze, and at the tip bright reddishbrown.
Length 4 feet 1 inch, extent of wings 5 feet 8 inches ; beak.l£ inches
along the ridge, 2 along the gap; tarsus 7J ; middle toe 5, hind toe 2 ;
pectoral appendage 1 foot. Such were the dimensions of the individual
represented in the plate, which, I need not say, was a fine specimen.