File:The wild turkey and its hunting (1914) (14755826536).jpg

Identifier: wildturkeyitshu00mcil (find matches)
Title: The wild turkey and its hunting
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: McIlhenny, Edward Avery, 1872-1949 Jordan, Charles L., d. 1909 Shufeldt, Robert W. (Robert Wilson), 1850-1934
Subjects: Turkeys
Publisher: Garden City, N. Y., Doubleday, Page & company
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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ows quite rapidly until the end ofthe third year, and then slowly until eleven ortwelve inches long, when it seems to stop. Itmay be owing to its wearing off at the lower endby dragging on the ground while feeding; but aclose inspection will not substantiate this, for thehairs at the extreme end of the beard are bluntand rounding, and do not indicate wear fromfriction. The young gobblers beard is twoinches long by the end of November of the firstyear of his life. By March it is three inches longand stands out of the feathers one inch. At theend of the second year is it five inches long, andat three years about eight inches long. Hens have beards only in rare cases, but notin one out of a hundred will a hen be found withone and then never more than four incheslong. I have seen gobblers with two or threebeards, and one at Eagle Lake, Texas, with fiveseparate, long and distinct beards; but suchcases are freaks. I once called up and killed aturkey hen on the banks of the Trinity River, in
Text Appearing After Image:
Hen, wild turkey, and three young. On account of the extreme shynessof the mother, young turkeys are very hard to photograph SOCIAL RELATIONS — NESTING 117 Texas, which was covered with precisely the samebronze feathers that distinguish the gobbler —the same thick, velvety black satin breast, andthe same beautifully decorated neck and head,except the white turban cap of the gobbler. Shehad a five-inch beard and looked in every waylike a gobbler, except being smaller in size. Sheweighed twelve pounds and had the form of thehen, the legs of a hen, and was a hen, but themost gaudy and beautiful specimen I ever saw.Possibly this was a barren hen, as she had allthe visible characteristics of the male, but shedid not gobble, she yelped. The parasite which troubles the turkey ismuch larger than those which infest chickens.It is yellow in color and crawls rapidly. Tur-keys have a habit of rolling themselves in dustand ashes to remove vermin from the skin andfeathers; but I believe a bath

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