The Redwood gazette., 1902-11-26

vi turkey On THANKSGIVING day.
q While tue authorship Of th.
above quotation has been Iues-
| tiOueu some even attriblltiuy it to WASH
ingtoll it is now generally conceded to
| have enlanateu from the lips Of Alex
under Hamilton 1t appeurs that ut Il
| buuuuet given by a uulnJcr Of congress-
men on the first uutIOllal celebration
| of THANKSGIVING III 1IS:'-;.ud. by the
way. we are indebted TO the fertile
! brain OF HaHliltOn for th. setting aside
! Of this day us a uatioual hoIiduy-tilt:
| turkey was conspicuous for its abb
sence, ClalI0r for our lar@est Of game
| birds, Which had served, or rather.
! beeu served. 50 IcC"ptably on III! feast
! days since the first THANKSGIVING OF
! the pil-riluS, WAS OF no avail, and Il
! motion to dispense with the fowl WAS
! finally lnaNc simply berH'iSe there
| seemed no alternative. But this WHs
| hootcd down. Hamilton Joining the
! opposition with the emphatic serti
| lucut above nOt"d
| Since it is strictly an American bird
! the nnlle Seems nISnOEner, probably
originating with it's first Introduction
Into Europe early in the sixteenth cen
| tury, when by Some Int.uIs it was sup
| posed to have come from the Ottoman
! empire.
! The Mammoth Bronze, the IHrgeSt
! and most popular dOrueSticHten variety,
is a descendant Of the Mexican turkey,
! Indigenous in the Mexican tHblelAndS,
| found also in New Mexico and .ArizO-
La. The prevalent notion that it is
| crossed with the wild turkey Of the
eastern slope is denied by the Gnanag-
ers Of the Smithsonian institution, who
! in exhibiting a fine stuffed specimen of
! the latter at the Ian-Arnerc;,n stated
| that lit is not u proyenitor OF the do
: IuestlC turkey"
! Illht the wild nature, like that OF the
! Indian. is never wholly erauicateu IS
most apparent ut nesting time Then
the most stupid in appearance of all
= the IcIiZrnS Of the poultry yard be-
comes suddenly the most wary and
cunning Unlike the busting hen
which never lays an egg without pro
claiming the fact to the entire neigh
bOrhOud Mistress Turkey Quietly slips
away from he rest Of the flock, feed
ing as she goes thereby Nctracting at
ttutiOn from her real purpose. II un
moIcSted. She proceeds by d more or
less circultouS route, carefully placing
dead leaves or bits of grass or Stra W
over each treasure with her bin, 50
| that unless one finds her on the nest or
| sees her enter it is almost Impossible
to discover her secret. Any indication
of surveillance increases her Secretive-
ness. and the strategy sometimes adopt
ed to thwart her pursuer is surprising
| in the extreme
Hunting the turkeys nest usually
falls to the lot Of an adult, children be-
ing. as a rule, not sh:eWd enough to
follow tho slender cleW to the end.
Patience for hours-yea. ofttimCs days
is required. One must expect to be
led on many detours, perchaEce to see
the hen settle down in a nook quite
remote from the nest, hoping thereby
to eiuGc her pursuer. II unsuccessful
in this rusc, she may even return
home. thinking to slip away later IN
noticed The following incident Mus
trates perhaps in an extreme degree
her tactics:
4 hen had been followed daily fol
several days. but without success The
grown up boy of the family was quite
inclined to make sport of the repeated
failures and finally volunteered his
services He watched the hen start
doug the roadside bordering TRAN
gular wood lot-the route she inVarla
1ly took From behind the rail fence
ne noted her progress, picking here
: and there. vending her way slowly
vet evidently alert to the presence o
my intruder. Sometimes she appeared
suspicious. but would again resume
her way in an unconcerned manner
When the apex of the triangle wa:
reached, she as deliberately. after a lit
tie maueuvering. worked her way "
: the adjacent side. Meantime the lac
slipped through the low bushes alon:
the third side of the triangle that h
, might better watch her movements
The -obbler, which had paraded bac!
and forth in the same field through TIL
entire morning. was now UNUSUAL,
nrotuse with his 'gObbles. AS tn
hen reached point opposite her maI
turkey talk was redoubled for few
! minutes Then he resumed his forme
: occupation of strutting and gobbling
: and she wended her way along uncon
. carnedly. AS she reached the spot OF
poSite where the spy was concealed
she veered directly from her path
walked up To the fence and peepe'
through at her pursuer, as much as I
say, Il knew all about you before
looked" Then she marched home i
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