The Washington herald., 1912-11-24


crossing with the domesticated fowl. It
is expected markedly 20 enhance the
beauty Of the animal and the favor Of
the meat
One should understand. to start with,
that this variety OF turkey-whieh has
never been reduced to domestication
hitherto-is one of the most beautiful
OF feathered creatures. It Is Of about
the same size as our own turkeys. but
Of a more brAiant coloration. and with
eyes" (hence the name bestowed upon
the species) sprinkled over its tail like
those which adorn the tail OF a pea
cock
When the spanIards invaded Mexico,
early in the sixteenth century, they
found there domesticated turkeys-the
birds being kept and bred by Monte
yuma to feed the jaguars, pumas, and
other carnivores in the wonderful zoo
logical garden which that monarch MAIN
tained as an appanage of his royal state.
They supposed them to be a kind of
peacock. and as such described them in
the letters wrote to folks at home. But
they never saw the "ocellated' turkey.
else the likeness to the peacock would
have struck them much more forcibly.
AS everybody knows the turkey be-
longs exclusively to the new world There
are three distinct species: % the wild
turkey of the United States. CD the tur-
key native to Mexico (which. owing to a
curious series Of happenings, has become
our farm fowl. distinguished by the
white meat of its breast), and 90 the
"ocellated," or eyed" turkey, native to
Yucatan and adjacent portion Of Guate-
mala and British Honduras.
Has Beautiful PIumage.
The "ocellated' turkey is a bird OF
much more varied and beautiful plumage
than either Of the others. II is. indeed,
rivalled In these respects by few feath-
cred creatures. When one says that its
bare head and neck are deep blue. COW
cred with bright red wart-like escres-
cences that its back and rump are blue
tipped with red. that its wing-coverts
are deep red in color, and that its bill.
legs, and feet are likewise red-all bril-
liant metallic hues-the description is not
quite complete, bright yellows and other
tints being incidentally introduced.
For many centuries this gorgeous fowl
has been hunted by the aborigines OF the
regions in which II is found. and. in
consequence. II has become extraordinar-
lily shy-so much so, indeed, that accord
ing to the testimony OF naturalists few
birds are so difficult to approach. Yet
it is not, like our own wild turkey, a
deniZen OF dense forests, but rather a
frequenter of the edges of ciearings, and
Of such places as the borders OF corn
fields.
Its habits in a general way. however.
are much like those OF our wild turkey.
It roosts in trees, and builds its nest
in a fashion similar to that Of its North
American congener. One of its peculiar
tiles Is a song which is like that of no
other bird. and which is described as re-
sembling the rapid pecking of a distant
woodpecker.
All turkeys are handsome birds-a cir
cumstance not surprising when one con-
siders their archaeological relationship.
For this interesting and palatable fowl
Is in truth a pheasant-the targets lat
all events the buIkieSt1 of. all the pleas
ants. The peacock Is a pheasant also.
but does not nearly approach the tur-
key in respect of weight It is, moreover,
much more closely related to our farm
yard chickens than to the turkey.
Chickens Are Pheasants.
Chickens are true pheasants-all of
them being descended from a species
native to Southern India, and which to-
day is found wild in that part OF the
world. 1t is the GaIlus bankiya-a bird
resembling in a striking degree the do
mesticated variety Familiarity known as
the red game" The much-esteemed
guinea fowl, too, is a pheasant, and is
any other existing bird. Thus II will
be understood why accidental crosses
between turkeys and guinea fowls once
in a while occur producing a queer sort
of hybrid. Whether or not this hybrid
is fertile, /. E.. capable OF perpetual
ing itself. does not seem to be a settled
question.
Is a matter of history that they took
some OF Montezuma's tame turkeys back
with them l. Spain, where they were
bred. II tradition lies not, the first oc-
casion on which the great American bird
was served as a table delicacy in Europe
was at the wedding OF Charles TX, in the
year $50
Evidently the merits Of the fowl gain
ed quick appreciation, for before long
Europe. At first it was popularity sup
posed to come from the Turkish domln- |
Ions Chose being a little known and more |
or less mysterious part of the world. |
whence anything previously unheard OF |
might naturally be thought to have
sfnanated). and hence the name by which |
sven to the present day 1t Is called
From Europe it was fetched to the |
United States as a farm yard breed, |
and in this way it came about that the
Mexican bird with the white-meated |
breast was domesticated in our own
1t is a species entirely dis
.inct from the wild turkey of our terri
.ory. which has dark meat on the breast.
As for the 'ocellated" turkey, it is. as
already explained, very markedly differ
INT from either, and the notifications
which the introduction of its blood into |
he farm yard strain may produce are
sntirely open to conjecture.
Nodded by Breeding.
No existing animal has been modified
,y breeding to anything like such an
,xtent as the species of East Indian
pheasant which to-day, in its altered
md wonderfully-varied forms, We call
he chicken But the giant Mexican
pheasant known as the turkey has I'M
iergone some striking changes incidental
% its domestication in this country.
I has been split up, as one might say,
nto no fewer than six recognized vari-
ties-the BRONZE" the buff" the
slate" the black" the 'Narragan-
iett." and the white" These differ
in pIumage, of course. But the
white is nothing more nor less than
IN albtno type, perpetuated, like the
White rabbit and the white mouse, by
election through a series of generations
Turkey-raisers are accustomed to keep
heir heaviest fowls from year to year
or breeding purposes. and by this SIM
lie method OF selection the size of the
ird has been much increased. Thus the
urkey Weighing forty pounds is nothing
cry extraordinary. But II ones would