These birds are found in different parts of North America.
Some idea of the immense numbers of passenger pigeons may be formed by stating that one continued flight of them is calculated by Mr. Weld to have extended at least eighty miles; and that a person is known to have killed more than a hundred and twenty at one shot with a blunderbuss. They migrate, at certain seasons, from one part of the country to another in search of acorns, berries, and other food. During these migrations they are very fat, and are either killed with clubs and guns, or caught in nets extended upon the ground, into which they are allured by tame pigeons, of their own species.
Passenger pigeons are brought, for sale, in sacksful to Quebec, where they are eagerly purchased as food. Such numbers of them are killed by the American Indians that they prepare their fat so as to be eaten like butter. And we are informed that some years ago there was scarcely any Indian town in the interior of Carolina in which 100 gallons of this fat might not at any time have been purchased.
It will easily be imagined, that, in every part of the country where these pigeons feed, they must prove, beyond all calculation, injurious to the farmer, by devouring the fruits of the harvest.
ORDER IV.—GALLINÆ, OR GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.
157. The TURKEY (Meleagris gallo-pavo) is found wild in the woods of America, and is distinguished by its forehead and chin having a red and naked shin, and the breast of the male being tufted.
Wild turkeys are hunted with dogs by the inhabitants of those parts of America where they are found. As soon as their haunts are discovered, the hunters send into the flock a dog that has been trained to this pursuit. The turkeys do not attempt to escape by flight, but run before him until they become fatigued, when they seek for safety in the trees. The dog gives notice to his followers of the places where they are concealed, and they are then easily knocked off the branches with poles, and secured.
Such is the size of these birds that they frequently weigh more than forty pounds each. The Indians not only esteem them as food, but make an elegant clothing of the feathers. The webs of these they twist, into a double string, with hemp or the inner bark of the mulberry-tree, and work or weave them somewhat, like matting. The article thus produced is said to have a rich and glossy appearance, and to be as fine in texture as silk shag. The inhabitants of Louisiana make fans of the tails; and the French, in the American colonies, used formerly to construct parasols by joining four of these tails together.
It does not appear that turkeys were known in England anterior to the reign of Henry the Eighth; and it is supposed that the first of these birds which appeared in Europe were brought from Mexico, after the conquest of that country, in 1521.
These birds, in a domestic state, subsist on grain and insects, and breed early in the spring; the females, whenever they have opportunity, wander to a considerable distance from the poultry yards to construct their nests, and lay and hatch their eggs. These are from fourteen to seventeen in number, of large size, and white colour, marked with reddish or yellow freckles. Young turkeys are so tender as to require much attention in rearing them. The housewives of Sweden frequently plunge them into cold water the day they are hatched; and, after having forced each of them to swallow a pepper-corn, restore them to the care of the parent.