Bill rather short, moderately stout, broader than high at the base, somewhat compressed toward the end; upper mandible with its extremity arched, thin-edged, and obtuse; lower narrowed and blunt. Head partially denuded, rather small, oblong; neck long; body very large. Feet stout, rather long; tarsus anteriorly scutellate; hind toe elevated, anterior toes webbed at the base. Claws rather denuded, obtuse. Plumage full, the feathers with a very large plumule and short tube; those of the hind part of the back much developed. Wings of moderate length, convex, rounded. Tail very large, of more than twelve feathers. Tongue triangular, pointed; œsophagus dilated into an enormous crop; stomach a very powerful gizzard, roundish, or transversely elliptical, with very large muscles, and dense epithelium, having two concave grinding surfaces; intestines long, and rather wide; cœca very large, oblong, internally with elevated reticulated ridges. Trachea cylindrical, without inferior laryngeal muscles. Nest on the ground, rudely constructed. Eggs numerous. Young covered with stiffish down.
GENUS I. MELEAGRIS, Linn. TURKEY.
Bill rather short, moderately stout, nearly straight, broader than high at the base, somewhat compressed toward the end; upper mandible with the dorsal line sloping and straight, toward the end decurved, nasal membrane large and bare, ridge and sides rounded, edges sharp, without notch, tip thin-edged, rounded; lower mandible with the angle very long, and rather wide, the dorsal line slightly convex, the edges sharp toward the end, decurved, the tip thin-edged and obtuse. Nostrils linear, with a large horny operculum. Head bare, with a long fleshy wattle at the base of the bill; neck bare, carunculate, slightly feathered behind. Head small, oblong; neck rather long; body very full. Feet large and strong; tarsus rather long, stout, compressed, with two rows of scutella in front, and the same behind, where there is also a conical slightly recurved spur, about a third from the lower extremity; toes of moderate length, stout, scutella; first small and elevated; lateral about equal, third much longer; anterior webbed at the base. Claws of moderate length, stout, arched, somewhat compressed, obtuse. Plumage compact, glossy; feathers very broad and truncate; those of the rump elongated. Wings of moderate length, concave, much rounded, with the fourth and fifth quills longest; secondaries very long and broad. Tail rather long, very broad, much rounded, of fourteen or eighteen very broad, broadly rounded feathers. Œsophagus dilated into a very large crop; stomach transversely elliptical, extremely muscular; intestines long and wide; cœca very large, oblong.
290. 1. Meleagris Gallopavo, Linn. Common Turkey.
Plate I. Male. Plate VI. Female and Young.
Tail with eighteen feathers. Male with a long tuft of bristles pendent from the lower part of the neck in front; frontal wattle blue and red, skin of the neck and head of various tints of blue and purple, caruncles bright red, changing to blue, legs purplish-red; upper parts brownish-yellow, with metallic lustre, changing to deep purple, fire-red, and bronzed green, the truncated tips of the feathers margined with velvet-black; on the hind parts, the black bands much broader; upper tail-coverts deep chestnut, glossed; wing-coverts like the back, excepting the primary coverts, which, with the quills, are dusky, transversely banded with white, the inner minutely mottled with dusky, on a light brownish-red ground; tail-feathers chestnut-red, narrowly barred and minutely dotted with black, a subternal broad band of black, the tips plain chestnut; lower parts like the upper, the tuft of bristles black. Female considerably inferior in size, with the wattles much smaller, the tuft on the breast comparatively small, and only in old birds; the colours of the plumage duller, there being little of the refulgent hues of the male; the lower parts brownish-black. Young before being fledged, are pale brownish-yellow above, pale yellowish-grey beneath, the top of the head brighter, marked in the middle with a longitudinal pale brown band; the back and wings spotted with brownish-black, excepting the smaller wing-coverts, which are uniformly dull brown.
Male, 49, 68. Female, 37, 54.
Breeds from Texas to Massachusetts and Vermont. In the interior to the Missouri, and thence northward to Michigan. Common. Resident, though removing to considerable distances in autumn, in quest of food.
Meleagris Gallopavo, Bonap. Syn. p. 122.
Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 79.
Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 630.
Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 1, 33; v. v. p. 559.