exceedingly clamorous, as they were in the early part of the mating period, they become almost silent. Yet they sometimes strut and gobble on their roosts, though, as a general rule, they do not, and content themselves with elevating and lowering the tail feathers, and uttering a puffing sound. They keep at this exercise for hours at a

FIG. 2. "CALLING WILD TURKEYS.

time on moonlight nights, without rising from their perch, and sometimes continue it until daylight.

When the hen is ready to lay, she scratches out a slight hollow in a thicket, a canebrake, beside a prostrate tree, in tall grass or weeds, or a grain field, and lines it rudely with grass or leaves, and then deposits her eggs in it.

These, which vary in number from ten to twenty, are smaller and more elongated than those of the domestic turkey, and are of a dull-cream or a dirty-white color, sprinkled with brownish-red spots. Audubon says that several hens may lay their eggs in one nest, and hatch them and raise the broods together. He found three hens siting on forty-two eggs in a single nest, and one was always present to protect them.

If the eggs are not destroyed, only one brood is raised in a year; but if they are, the female calls loudly for a male, and when she is rejoined by one, both keep com pany until she is ready to commence laying again, when she deserts him or drives him away, as he has the very strongest penchant for destroying the eggs, in order to keep her in his company. This forces her to build her nest in the most secluded spot she can find, and to cover it carefully with leaves or grass whenever she leaves it. We present pictures showing how Wild turkeys are "called" by hunters to them with whistles, and how they are entrapped. When once enticed within this trap, they are so confused as to be unable to find their way out. Fig 1 makes the trap plain. An inclined path or trench is arranged, which deepens gradually and ends inside the pen. Corn is strewn over the bottom of the trench, the turkeys follow along head down led by the corn until they are inside, and then with heads up they see no way out.

CHAPTER III.

THE BREEDS OF TURKEYS.

There is less variation in the ordinary domestic turkey than among common fowls, not so many being kept, and more care being taken to keep them pure. The following classification may be considered as correct and is accepted by breeders:

The Mexican is generally considered to be the progenitor of the common domesticated turkey, as is fully set forth. The Honduras or Ocellated turkey, found in Central America, appears to have baffled all attempts to domesticate and rear it outside the tropics. It is said to possess a plumage equal in brilliancy to that of the peacock, and also to have the feathers of its tail "ocellated," or eyed.

The North American Wild turkey resembles the Mexican in color, but rivals it in size. It is a somewhat longer bird than the domesticated variety, and differs from it in an absence of pure white in any of its feathers, the pencilings of its wings and the dull white or gray of its tail being of a chestnut color. Our second chapter treats in detail of this superb progenitor of the useful domestic turkey. Audubon's fine painting is still the best portraiture of this noble bird, and from it our frontispiece is produced. The Wild turkey is still of the most importance to breeders, because fresh infusion of pure, wild blood into

our breeding stock seems to be necessary, to prevent decadence of vitality, and to insure thrift and health in our improved breeds-that is, for those who raise turkeys for market.

THE BRONZE TURKEY.

H. S. BABCOCK.

The Bronze is the largest variety among our turkeys. The standard weights are: For cock 32 lbs, cockerel 24 lbs, hen 22 lbs, and pullet 15 lbs. These weights, though high, are often exceeded by the birds. Forty pounds and even more are reached by the old toms, and we know of one hen turkey which weighed, when we saw her, twenty-nine pounds, and her owner expected her to reach thirty pounds in a short time.

There is some obscurity about the origin of this variety, although there is reason to believe that it resulted from crossing the Wild turkey, the original of all the domesticated varieties, upon the Black turkey. Early references to the variety show that it was at first known as the "Black Bronzed," but the term was too long and it became shortened into Bronze. This variety is interesting as showing that, after a marked departure from the early color, it has come back to very nearly the color of its Wild original. The Black had departed a long distance from the rich hues of the Wild turkey, but the lines are restored in the Bronze variety.

The male has a long head, with good breadth of skull, the rich red skin being carunculated. The strong beak is well curved, and is of the color known as horn, darkest at the base and growing light as it approaches the tip. The eyes are dark-hazel in color, contrasting with the rich red of the face and jaws. The wattle, or snout, is of the same color as the face and of good size, and hangs down from above. The long curving neck is clothed in plumage of rich bronze. The back of the male, starting from its junc

tion with the neck, rises in a gentle curve to about the center, which is the highest point, and then descends to the tail. The feathers are of the richest bronze, each ending in a narrow band of black, and in the sunlight they are indescribably beautiful. The broad, full and prominent breast is covered with plumage of dark bronze. The body is long, well rounded, and midway of its length quite deep, and the feathers are black with bronze shadings, less lustrous, though beautiful, than those upon the back and breast. In fact, in almost all fowls kept by man, the top plumage is much the richest, and is so, probably, because of the effects of the sun upon it. Even in varieties which are supposed to be uniform in coloring, like the Buff Cochin, the upper plumage is much the richest in coloring. The wings have a wide spread, and the muscles are strong enough to enable the heavy bird to rise to a considerable hight from the ground. The primary feathers, when the wing is opened, are seen to be black or nearly so, with more or less regular penciling of gray or white. The secondaries are like the primaries but as one counts from the primaries, they are seen to have more and more brown and bronze, and less and less of white or gray. The wing bows are black with a rich greenish or bronzy luster, and the coverts are similar in color, each ending in a broad band of black that makes a bar across the wings. The long tail consists of feathers the ground color of which is black, and across which are irregularly placed narrow bands of light brown, terminating in a broad band of black with a wide gray margin. The tail coverts do not differ materially from the main feathers of the tail, except that as they approach the back they grow richer in bronze shadings. The stout thighs, of good length, are clad in dark, bronzecolored feathers, and the shanks, which are long and stout in bone, are in immature birds almost black, but in adult birds they become flesh-colored. This fact will enable one to decide with some certainty upon the age of a turkey.

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