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Wild Turkey
Differing in some degree from the darker varieties of the domestic turkey, the smaller wattles and the dark buff or chestnut tip to the tail coverts and tail are characteristic of the wild bird. The adult male is very much larger than the female, weighing usually about 25 pounds, and sometimes as much as 40 pounds, while the female weighs about 8 pounds. Length of adult male--48.00.
Breeding Range--Canada to Florida; extinct in New England.
The nest is built on the ground among briars and thick weedy places. 9 to 15 eggs are laid (some writers putting the number as high as 24). They are cream-coloured with fine brownish-red spots. Size--2.55 x 1.80.
Unfortunately, the Wild Turkey is becoming so scarce that in a few years' time it will be a rare bird. Laws made for its preservation were adopted too late, and in many places are utterly disregarded, which means that the birds will become restricted to inaccessible places, such as the large tracts of swampy woodland. It has never been my good fortune to find a wild turkey's nest, so I cannot give any original data in connection with their breeding habits. During the mating season each male fights for the possession of a drove of hens, varying in number from 4 to about 8 or even more; at other times the two sexes flock together, though it is usual for the very old gobblers to remain solitary. Mr. Davis says that when the eggs are once touched the female will abandon her nest.