the debt we owe to the followers of Loyola, the
fact that, in many parts of France, Turkeys are
called “Jesuits,” by reason of the first brood
having been reared at a large farm belonging to
the brotherhood, near Bourges. This statement
is, however, decidedly at variance with another,
authenticated by Montluc, who says that the
first Turkey ever served at table in France,
appeared at the nuptials of Charles the Ninth
(A.D. 1570), who ate a wing of the fowl for his
supper. (Parenthetically I may observe, that
if, happily, the morsel had choked him, the Eve
of Saint Bartholomew had not been among the
fasti nefasti of his reign.) But the probability
is, that the Spaniards introduced the Turkey
amongst us at a much earlier period: mention
being made of it in Europe in the year 1530. Let
the date, however, be when it might—whether
the Turkey followed in the train of Cortes, or
of Pizarro—to America we are indebted for it;
and there, in its wild state, it still ranges,
from the backwoods of (what were once) the
United States, to the Isthmus of Darien: its
plumage, as in the case of the Honduras
Turkey (Meleager Ocellata), growing more
lustrous and magnificent as the family extends
southward.

Of the wild Turkeys of North America, the
following interesting details are given by Prince
Lucien Bonaparte, in his continuation of
Wilson’s North American Ornithology:

The males, usually termed Gobblers (and
meriting the name, no doubt) associate in parties
of from ten to a hundred, and seek their food
apart from the females, which either go about
singly with their young, at that time about two-
thirds grown, or form troops with other females
and their families, sometimes to the amount of
seventy or eighty. These all avoid the old males
(and well they may), who attack and destroy the
young, whenever they can, by reiterated blows
on the skull. But all parties travel in the same
direction and on foot, unless the dog of the
hunter, or a river in their line of march, compel
them to take wing. When about to cross a river,
they select the highest eminences, that their
flight may be more sure, and in such positions
they sometimes stay for a day or more, as if
in consultation. The males on such occasions
gobble obstreperously, strutting with
extraordinary importance, as if to animate their
companions; and the females and young assume
much of the pompous air of the males, and
spread their tails as they move silently around.
Having mounted at length to the tops of the
highest trees, the assembled multitude, at the
signal note of their leader, wing their way to
the opposite shore. The old and fat birds,
contrary to what might be expected, cross without
difficulty even when the river is a mile in width;
but the wings of the young and meagre, and of
course those of the weak, frequently fail them
before they have completed their passage, when
in they drop, and are forced to swim for their
lives, which they do cleverly enough, spreading
their tails for a support, closing their wings,
stretching out their necks, and striking out
quickly with their feet. All do not succeed in
such attempts, and the weaker often perish. The
wild Turkeys feed on all sorts of berries, fruits,
grasses; and beetles, tadpoles, young frogs, and
lizards, are occasionally found in their crops. The
pecan-nut is a favourite food with them, and so
is the acorn, on which last they fatten rapidly.
About the beginning of October, whilst the mast
still hangs on the trees, they gather together in
flocks, directing their course to the rich bottom-
lands, and are then seen in great numbers on
the Ohio and Mississippi. This is the Turkey-
month of the Indians. When the Turkeys have
arrived at the land of abundance, they disperse
in small promiscuous flocks of every sex and age,
devouring all the mast as they advance. Thus
they pass the autumn and winter, becoming
comparatively familiar after their journey, and then
venturing near plantations and farm-houses.
They have been known on these occasions to
enter stables and cow-cribs in search of food.
Numbers are killed in the winter, and are
preserved in a frozen state for distant markets.
The beginning of March is the pairing-time,
for a short time previous to which the females
separate from their mates and shun them, though
the latter pertinaciously follow them, gobbling
loudly. The sexes roost apart, but at no great
distance, so that when the female utters a call,
every male within hearing responds, rolling note
after note in the most rapid succession; not as
when spreading the tail and strutting near the
hen, but in a voice resembling that of the tame
Turkey when he hears any unusual or frequently-
repeated noise. Where the Turkeys are
numerous, the woods, from one end to the other,
sometimes for hundreds of miles, resound with
this remarkable voice of their wooing, uttered
responsively from their roosting-places. This
is continued for about an hour; and, on the
rising of the sun, they silently descend from
their perches, and the males begin to strut for
the purpose of winning the admiration of their
mates. If the call be given from the ground,
the males in the vicinity fly towards the
individual, and, whether they perceive her or not,
erect and spread their tails, throw the head
backward, distend the comb and wattles, strut
pompously, and rustle their wings and body-
feathers, at the same moment ejecting a puff of
air from the lungs. Whilst thus occupied,
they occasionally halt to look out for the female,
and then resume their strutting and puffing,
moving with as much rapidity as the nature of
their gait will admit. During this ceremonious
approval, the males often encounter each other,
and desperate battles ensue, when the conflict is
only terminated by the flight or death of the
vanquished. The usual fruits of such victories
are reaped by the conqueror, who is followed by
one or more females, which roost near him, if not
upon the same tree, until they begin to lay,
when their habits are altered with the view of
saving their eggs, which the male breaks if he
can get at them.

From several passages in the preceding
account it is evident that the male Turkey in his