Females of four years old' have «theiT full size and colouring; they
then possess the pectoral fascicle/ fqur.rior five inches long, «(which*
according to Mr. Audubon, they-exhibit a little in the secondjpcar, if
not barren,) but this fascicle is much «thinner than that of the male.
The barren hens do not obtain this,distinction until a very advanced
age ; and, being preferable for the table, theahunters single them from
the flock, and kill them in preference to the,- others. The,»female
Wild Turkey is more frequently furnished with the hairy tuft than
the Tame one, and this appendage is gained earlier in life. The
great number of young hens without-it, has no doubt "given.*iaseifttb
the incorrect assertion of a few writers, that the female is always
destitute pfeit.«/«• -
The weight of the hen generally averagesnbout nine pounds‘avoifr
dupois.«s Mr. Audubon has shot barren hens,, in strawberry time,
weighing thirteen pounds/ and .he has seen sonSte fewxso fat -asM'©
burst open by falling from a tree, after being shot: The uialedTurkeys.
differ more in bulk and weight: from the accounts I
received from various parts of the Union, fifteen or twenty Ipoipnds
may he^considereiLa fair statement di^hjfir medium weight ;.;but
birds of thirty pounds a re net-very rare; and 1 have ascertained the
existence #1| some weighing forty. relation to those surpassing
the last mentioned weight, according to the report of authors who
do not speak from personal observation, I have not been able to find
any, and am inclined to consider them as fabulous. Mr. Audubon
informs us, he saw one in the Louisville market that weighed thirty-
six pounds; the pectoral appendage of-this bird measured more
than a foot in length. Bartram describes a specimen of remarkable
size and beauty, reared from an egg found in the forest, and hatched
by a common hen: when this Turkey stood erect, the head was three
feet from the ground. The animal was stately and handsome, and
did not seem insensible of the admiration he excited.
Our plate, which is the first that has been given of the Wild Turkey,
represents both sexes, reduced to one-third of their natural size;
the male was selected from among many fine specimens, shot in the
month of April, near Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri. It
weighed twenty-two pounds ; but, as the males are very thin at that
season,# when in good order it must have weighed much more.
Though comparatively recent, the domestic state of the Turkey
has been productive of many varieties; we need not, therefore, be
surprised at the existence of numerous and remarkable differences
in those animals which have been domesticated from time immemorial.
The most striking aberration from the standard of the
species, is-certainly the tufted Turkey, which is very rare, the crest
being white in some specimens, and black in others. Tame Turkeys
sometimes oecur of an immaculate black colour; others are exclusively
white; some are speckled or variegated; and all these varieties
are continued by propagation, under analogous circumstances. In
the wild state, a white, or even a speckled Turkey, is unknown; and
we may venture to say, that a plain black one has hardly ever
occurred.
Moehring proposed the name of Cynchramus for this genus, as the
term Meleagris was used by the ancients to indicate a different bird:
all other naturalists have agreed with Linné, who, though fully aware
of the fact, made use of the name we have adopted. But he included
in the genus two allied species, which Gmelin very properly rejected,
and placed in a separate genus, which he called Penelope, considering
the Turkey as sui generis. Latham again rendered the genus
unnatural, by restoring one of the objectionable Linnean species,
perceiving that it was not properly placed in Penelope; it is, in truth,
a Phasianus. As now characterized, the present genus is exclusively
American; and, by the discovery of a beautiful species closely
allied to that of the United States, it now consists of two species.
* The extraordinary leanness of this bird, at particular seasons of the year, has become
proverbial in many Indian languages. An OtnaioJimo, who wishes to make known his
abject poverty, says, “ With paume zezecah ha go b a I am as poor as a Turkey in
summer.