href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@46542@[email protected]#pl_4" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">Plate IV. Figs. 12 to 16. Views of the cranium and skull of the turkey

75 Plate V. Figs. 17 to 19. Views of the skull of wild turkeys, and skeleton of the left foot of a wild turkey 80 Plate VI. Figs. 20 to 23. Eggs of wild turkey 90 Plate VII. Fig. 24. Nest of a wild turkey in situ 102 Note the full chest of the gobbler on the left. This is the breast sponge 106 Nest located in thick brush on top of a ridge in Louisiana 112 Hen, wild turkey, and three young 116 The beginning of the strut 124 The chief of all his enemies is the "genus homo" 142 An ideal turkey country. They will go a long way to roost in trees growing in water 156 A hermit. It would take an expert turkey hunter to circumvent this bird 160 Big woods in Louisiana where the old gobblers roam at will. A delightful place in which to camp 174 Jordan's Turkey Call (cut in text) 183 I soon saw the old gobbler stealing slowly through the brush 190 "Cluck," "put," "put," there stands a gobbler, within twenty paces to the left 202 Suddenly there was a "Gil-obble-obble-obble," so near it made me jump 206 The soft, gentle quaver of the hen has no effect on the ear of the young gobbler 216

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INTRODUCTION

Although many eminent naturalists and observers have written of the turkey from the date of its introduction to European civilization to the present time, there has been no very satisfactory history of the intimate life of this bird, nor has there been a satisfactory analysis of either the material from which our fossil turkeys are known, or the many writings concerning the early history of the bird and its introduction to civilization. I have attempted in this work to cover the entire history of this very interesting and vanishing game bird, and believe it will fill a long-felt want of hunters and naturalists for a more detailed description of its life history.

This work was begun by Chas. L. Jordan and would have been completed by him, except for his untimely death in 1909.

Mr. Jordan for more than sixty years was a careful observer and lover of the wild turkey, and for many years the study of this bird occupied almost his entire time. I feel safe in saying that Mr. Jordan knew more of the ways of the wild turkey in the wilds than any man who ever lived. No more convincing example of his patience and perseverance in his study of the bird can be given than the accompanying photographs, all of which were taken of the wild birds in the big outdoors by Mr. Jordan.

At the time of Mr. Jordan's death he was in his sixty-seventh year and was manager of the Morris game preserve of over 10,000 acres, near Hammond, La. He had been most successful in attracting to this preserve a great abundance of game, and was very active in suppressing poaching and illegal hunting. His activity in this cause brought about his death, as he was shot in the back by a poacher during the afternoon of February 24, 1909, for which Allen Lagrue, his murderer, is now serving a life sentence in the penitentiary.

I had known Mr. Jordan for a number of years before his death and was much interested in his work with the turkey, as I, for years, had been carrying on similar studies. After Mr. Jordan's death, through the kindness of Mr. John K. Renaud, I secured his notes, manuscript, and photographic plates of the wild turkey, and with these, and my knowledge of the bird, I have attempted to compile a work I think he would have approved.

Mr. Jordan from time to time wrote articles on the wild turkey for sporting magazines, among them Shooting and Fishing, and parts of his articles are brought into the present publication. I have carried out the story of the wild turkey as if told by Mr. Jordan, as his full notes on the bird enable me to do this.

I am indebted to Dr. R. W. Shufeldt for his chapter on the fossil turkey, the introduction of the turkey to civilization, and photographs accompanying his two chapters, written at my request especially for this work.

E. A. M.

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THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING

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CHAPTER I
MY EARLY TRAINING WITH THE TURKEYS

My father was a great all-round hunter and pioneer in the state of Alabama, once the paradise of hunters.