The Western World: Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North; and South AmericaKingston, William Henry Giles
History
The Western World: Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North; and South America
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Natural history -- North America; Natural history -- South America
The bird, in the States, is commonly known as Bubbling Jock, and is
called "Oocoocoo" by the Indians. The female builds her nest in some
dry, secluded spot, guarding it carefully, and never approaching it by
the same path twice in succession. When first her young are hatched,
she leads them through the woods, but returns at night to her nest.
After a time she takes them to a greater distance, and nestles them in
some secluded spot on the ground. At this time they are frequently
attacked by the lynxes, who spring upon them, knocking them over with
their paws.
The wild turkey wanders to a great distance from the place of its birth.
"About the beginning of October the male birds assemble in flocks,"
says Audubon, "and move towards the rich bottom-lands of the Ohio and
Mississippi. The females advance singly, each with its brood of young,
then about two-thirds grown, or in union with other families, forming
parties often amounting to seventy or eighty individuals--shunning the
old cocks, who, when the young birds have attained this size, will fight
with, and often destroy them by repeated blows on the head. When they
come upon a river, they betake themselves to the highest eminence, and
often remain there a whole day; for the purpose of consultation, it
would seem, the males gobbling, calling, and making much ado,--strutting
about as if to raise their courage to a pitch befitting the emergency.
At length, when all around is quiet, the whole party mount to the tops
of the most lofty trees, whence, at a signal--consisting of a single
cluck--given by the leader, the flock takes flight for the opposite
shore. On reaching it, after crossing a broad stream, they appear
totally bewildered, and easily fall a prey to the hunter, who is on the
watch for them with his dogs."
THE OCELLATED TURKEY.
A still more magnificent species of turkey than the one just described
inhabits Honduras. It may be distinguished from the common turkey by
the eye-like marks on the tail and upper wing-coverts. The naked skin
of the head and neck, too, is of a delicate violet-blue, covered with
numerous pea-looking knobs arranged in a cluster upon the crown. This
is of a pale buff-orange, while there is a row of similar marks over the
eye, and others scattered about the neck. The wattle hanging from the
neck is of a light orange at the tip. The greater wing-coverts are of a
rich chestnut, the feet and legs being of a lake colour. It is somewhat
smaller than the wild turkey of the States.
THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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