To give a correct, intelligible history of the American domestic turkey, we must give a pretty minute account of the wild turkey of America, from which our tame ones all originally sprung. The wild turkey is a bird peculiar to America, this the best ornithologists admit. It is of the genus or family gallinacie, and of the order or species maleagris gallopavo. The native country of the wild turkey extends from the north western part of the United States, to the Isthmus of Panama, south of which it is not to be found, notwithstanding the statements of some authors and travellers who have mistaken another bird for it, and that possibly somewhat resembled it. In Canada, and the more densely peopled parts of the United States, wild turkeys were formerly very abundant; but like the Indian and Buffalo, they have been compelled by the destructive energy of the white settlers, and perhaps sometimes wantonly exercised, to seek refuge in the remotest parts of the interior. Civilization too, is more hostile to most barbarous nations and all wild animals; they withdraw from it, with almost as much precipitation and terror, as from the assaults of an open active enemy; although more gradual

in its results, it is sure, ultimately, to effect the destruction of both. The one tries to get beyond its reach by travelling, and taking up his residence in the distant and uninhabited wilderness, and the other flees to the deepest recesses of the remote forest for preservation.

To give a good history of the wild turkey, it is necessary to consult several authors of the highest reputation on the birds of our country; among these, Audubon, Wilson and Bonaparte, and Nuttall's Ornithology of America and the United States, with some others. The authors here named stand highest, and may be safely relied on-they have all resided many years in the United States, and travelled over a large portion of our continent to enable them to give the most accurate history of its birdsand especially Audubon. This gentleman studied most assiduously his subject for more than twenty years, and that in the only book free from error and contradictions, the great book of nature. His observations, principally made in the western, south and south-western and north-western States, enable us in consequence to enrich the present article with several new details of the manners and habits of the wild turkey. The wooded parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama; the unsettled portions of the States of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois; the vast expanse of territory south-west and north-west of these States, on the Mississippi and Missouri, as far as the forests extend, are more abundantly supplied than any other parts of the Union with this valuable game, and forms so important a part of the subsistence of the hunter and traveller in the wilderness. It is not probable that the range of this bird extends to or beyond the rocky mountains. The Mandan Indians, who a few years ago visited the city of Washington, considered the turkey as one of the greatest curiosities they had seen, and prepared a skin of one to carry home for exhibition. Still this bird may be found there in time, as it is a very extensive country, and as yet a large portion of it very imperfectly explored; or it may travel and flourish there, as the climate, soil, and products of many parts of both sections, east and west of the mountains, are very similar. The wild turkey is not very plenty in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas; is still less frequently found in the western parts of Virgi

nia and Pennsylvania; and is extremely rare in the remaining northern and eastern parts of the United States. We have it, though, from the best authority, that wild turkeys are yet to be found in the mountainous districts of Sussex county, New Jersey. The most eastern part of Pennsylvania now inhabited by them is Lancaster county; and they are often observed in the oak woods near Philipsburgh, Clearfield county. Those occasionally brought to the Philadelphia and New-York markets, are chiefly obtained in Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, and, as may be readily supposed. in either of these States they are not very abundant. The wila turkeys do not confine themselves to any particular food; they eat maize or Indian corn, all sorts of berries, fruits, grains and grasses; and even tadpoles, young frogs and lizards, are occasionally found in their crops; but where the pecan nut, a variety of the hickory, is plenty, they prefer that food to every other. Their more general predilection is, however, for the acorn, or mast, on which they readily fatten. When an unusually profuse crop of acorns is produced in a particular section of country, great numbers of turkeys are enticed from their ordinary haunts in the surrounding districts, where the acorn abounds. This food, owing to its abundance, as it is to be found more or less in all our large forests, is one reason why it is a favorite with the turkey; it is more easily procured, and can be depended on with more certainty. About the beginning of October, while the mast still remains on the trees, they assemble in flocks, and direct their course to the rich bottom lands. At this season they are observed in great numbers on the Ohio and Mississippi. The time of this irruption is known to Indians by the name of the turkey month. The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in parties numbering from ten to a hundred, and seek their food apart from the females; whilst the latter either move about singly with their young, then nearly two-thirds grown, or in company with other females and their families, form troops, sometimes consisting of seventy or eighty individuals, all of whom are intent on avoiding the old males, who, whenever an opportunity offers, attack and destroy the young by repeated blows on the head. All parties, however, travel in the same direction, and on foot, unless they are compelled to seek their individual safety by flying from the hunter's dog, or their march is impeded by natural obstructions.

When the turkies have surmounted all difficulties, and arrived in their land of abundance, they disperse in small flocks, composed of individuals of all sexes and ages intermingled, who devour all the mast as they advance; this occurs about the middle of November. It has been observed, that after these long journeys, the turkies become so familiar near the farm-houses and plantations, as to enter the stables and corn cribs in search of food; in this way they pass the autumn, and part of the winter. During this season, great numbers are killed by the inhabitants, who preserve them in a frozen state, in order to transport them to distant markets. Early in March they begin to pair; and for a short time previous, the females separate from and shun their mates, though the latter pertinaciously follow them, uttering their gobbling notes. The sexes roost apart, but at no great distance, so that when the female utters a call, every male within hearing responds, rolling not after note, in the most rapid succession; not as when spread g the tail and strutting near the hen, but in a voice resembling that of the tame turkey, when he hears any unusual or frequently repeated noise. Where the turkeys are numerous, the woods from one end to the other, sometimes for hundreds of miles, resounds with this remarkable voice of their wooing, uttered responsively from their roosting places; this is continued for about an hour, and on the rising of the sun, they silently descend from their perches, and the males begin to strut, for the purpose of winning the admiration of the females. If the call be given from the ground, the males in the vicinity fly towards the individual, and whether they perceive her or not, erect and spread their tails, throw the head backward, distend their comb and wattles, strut pompously, and rustle their wings and body feathers. While thus occupied, they occasionally halt to look out for the female, and then resume their strutting and pompous movement. During this ceremonious approach, the males often encounter each other, and fierce battles ensue, when the conflict is only terminated by the flight or death of the vanquished. When mated for the season, one or more females thus associated, follow their favorite, and roost in the immediate neighborhood, if not on the same tree, until they begin to lay, when they change their mode of life, in order to save their eggs, which

the male uniformly breaks, if in his power, that the female may not be withdrawn from his company and attention. At this time, the females shun the males during the greater part of the day; the latter become clumsy aud careless, meet each other peacefully, and cease to gobble. The sexes then separate; the males being thin and meagre, retire and conceal themselves by prostrate trees in secluded parts of the forest, or in the almost impenetrable recesses of a cane break. Rather than leave their hiding places, they suffer themselves to be approached within a short distance, when they seek safety in speed of foot; at this season, however, they are of none or very little value to the hunter, being quite lousy and covered with tick. By thus retiring, and feeding on peculiar grasses, they recover their flesh and strength; and when this object is attained, again congregate, and commence their rambles. About the middle of April, when the weather is dry, the female selects a proper place in which to deposite her eggs, secured from the encroachment of water, and as far as possible, concealed from the watchful eye of the crow; this crafty bird espies the hen going to her nest, and having discovered the precious deposite, waits for the absence of the parent, and removes every one of the eggs from the spot that he may devour them at his 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 turkey. Their manner, number of eggs, period of incubation, &c., appear to correspond throughout the Union, as Messrs. Audubon, Wilson and others, have received 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, varying 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 carefully, as to make it extremely