. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Fig. 156.—Guinea-fowl. hood of marshes. Transported into America after the discovery ofthat continent, the common variety is perfectly acclimated there, andis even to be found wild in some of the vast forests and savannahsof the West Indies. Turkeys {Meleagris gallopavo) are birds of large size, easilydistinguished from other gallinacean fowls by the followingcharacteristics :—Bare heads and necks, decorated with fleshyappendages—those of the neck, which fall
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Fig. 156.—Guinea-fowl. hood of marshes. Transported into America after the discovery ofthat continent, the common variety is perfectly acclimated there, andis even to be found wild in some of the vast forests and savannahsof the West Indies. Turkeys {Meleagris gallopavo) are birds of large size, easilydistinguished from other gallinacean fowls by the followingcharacteristics :—Bare heads and necks, decorated with fleshyappendages—those of the neck, which fall under the head infront of the bird, are capable of being inflated and much enlargedunder the influence of love or anger; a brush of long and straighthairs hangs at the base of the neck; the tarsi are strong, andprovided with slightly-developed spurs; lastly, the tail is round, THE TURKEY. 413 of moderate length, and at the will of the bird can be expandedlike a fan. The Turkey was originally imported from North America, where. Fig. 157.—Wild Turkey. it Still lives in a wild state (Fig. 157), being frequently met with inthe forests which border the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Domestic Turkey is not so handsome in plumage as is the wild, 414 REPTILES AND BIRDS. but the former generally much exceeds the latter in size. The colourof the Wild Turkey is brown, mixed with blue and green, giving outa diaphanous metallic brilliancy. The full-grown male bird some-times measures over three feet, and weighs from twenty to twenty-five pounds. The American naturalist Audubon speaks of havingseen one which was upwards of thirty-six.* The female is muchsmaller, and seldom exceeds ten pounds in weight. Her plumagecannot vie with that of the male in harmonious blending of it does not appear constructed for the purpose, the maturebird is capable of taking considerable flights, crossing with easein its wild state those gigantic rivers that traverse its habit
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
