The Wild Turkeys do not restrict themselves to any particular kind of food, but prefer the winter grape and the pecan-nut, being found in the greatest numbers where these are plentiful. They eat grass and various herbs, corn, berries, fruit, insects, tadpoles, and small lizards. When walking, these birds often open their wings a little, folding them again over each other, as if their weight were too great, then run a short distance, spreading their pinions and fanning their sides after the manner of the Domestic Fowl, then leaping two or three times into the air, and shaking themselves. While searching for food they keep the head raised, and are always on the watch, meanwhile scratching with their feet, and snatching up at once with the beak any prey which they may have found. In summer they roll themselves in the dust of roads or ploughed fields to clear themselves from ticks. After snow, when the ground becomes hard, the Turkeys will remain on their sleeping-places without food for three or four days, but sometimes venture into farmyards to the stacks of corn and stables, in search of grain. During falls of melting snow they run to surprising distances, and with such rapidity that no horse can keep up with them; late in the spring, however, their strength is not so great, and a good dog is able to overtake them.
With the exception of man, the most formidable enemies of the Wild Turkey are the lynx, the Snowy Owl, and the Virginian Owl. The lynx pursues both old and young, sucks their eggs, and does them great injury. The Owls attack them when roosting on the branches of trees, hovering around them with silent wing. "This, however," says Audubon, "is rarely done without being discovered; a single cluck from one of the party announces the approach of the murderer. They instantly start upon their legs and watch the motions of the Owl, which, selecting one as its victim, comes down upon it like an arrow, and would inevitably secure the prize, did not the latter at that moment lower its head, stoop, and spread its tail in an inverted manner over its back, so that the aggressor is met by a smooth inclined plane, along which it glances without hurting the Turkey; immediately after which the latter drops to the ground, and thus escapes merely with the loss of a few feathers."
Turkeys are hunted in all parts of America with ardour, but always in moderation. They are shot at pairing-time, and also when at roost; but they are most commonly caught in pens, in a manner thus described by Audubon:—
"Young trees, of four or five inches in diameter, are cut down and divided into pieces of the length of twelve or fourteen feet. Two of these are laid on the ground parallel to each other, at a distance of ten or twelve feet. Two others are laid across the ends of these at right angles to them, and in this manner successive layers are added until the fabric is raised to the height of about four feet. It is then covered with similar pieces of wood, placed three or four inches apart, and loaded with one or two heavy logs to render the whole firm. This done, a trench about eighteen inches in depth and width is cut under one side of the cage, into which it opens slantingly and rather abruptly. It is continued on its outside to some distance, so as gradually to attain the level of the surrounding ground. Over the part of this trench within the pen, and close to the wall, some sticks are placed so as to form a kind of bridge about a foot in breadth. The trap being now finished, the owner places a quantity of Indian corn in its centre, as well as in the trench; and as he walks off, drops here and there a few grains in the woods, sometimes to the distance of a mile. This is repeated at every visit to the trap after the Turkeys have found it. No sooner has a Turkey discovered the train of corn than it communicates the circumstance to the flock by a cluck, when all of them come up, and searching for the grains scattered about, at length come upon the trench, which they follow, squeezing themselves one after another through the passage under the bridge. In this manner the whole flock sometimes enters, but more commonly six or seven only, as they are alarmed by the least noise, even the cracking of a tree in frosty weather. Those within having gorged themselves, raise their heads, and try to force their way through the top or sides of the pen, passing and repassing on the bridge, but never for a moment looking down or attempting to escape by the passage by which they entered. Thus they remain until the owner of the trap arriving closes the trench and secures his captives. I have heard of eighteen Turkeys having been caught in this manner at a single visit to the trap."
When Turkeys are abundant, the owners sometimes neglect to visit their traps, and the poor prisoners are starved for want of food, for they never retrace their steps along the trench, as they might readily do, and thus regain their liberty.
The AUSTRALIAN JUNGLE FOWLS (Megapodinæ) form a group of Australian birds, distinguished from all their feathered brethren by the strange manner in which their broods are incubated. For this process mounds of grass and earth are erected by the parents to receive their unusually large eggs, which are hatched by means of the heat engendered by the decaying vegetable matter. The young do not quit the shell until they are fully fledged and capable of supporting themselves. Gould is of opinion that this singular way of incubating the eggs, and the very small size of their brain, indicate that the Megapodinæ hold but a low place in the scale of intelligence. Naturalists are much at variance concerning the systematic position of these birds, but in our own opinion Reichenbach is correct in considering them as nearly allied to the Gallinaceæ, and we shall therefore adopt his arrangement.
The TALLEGALLI (Tallegalli) are recognisable by their strong curved beak, short toes, small much-rounded wings, and the bare patches on the head, neck, and breast. These birds inhabit the dense brushes, scrubby gullies, and primeval forests of Australia and New Guinea, where they are met with in small flocks on the ground. In disposition they are very shy, and when disturbed endeavour to escape by running into the thick brush or by flying up to the branches of trees, and then ascending to the top, which they gain by leaping from bough to bough; having attained the summit they sometimes fly off to a new locality in the underwood. During the mid-day heat they generally seek shelter under the shady branches of trees, often uttering a low chuckling noise; they also dust themselves on the ground, after the manner of other Gallinaceous Birds. Their food consists of seeds, berries, and insects.
