152 WILD TURKEY.

months. About the beginning of October, when the
fruits and seeds are about to fall from the trees, these
birds collect together and gradually move towards the
rich lands of the Ohio and Mississippi. The males, or
‘sobblers,’ associate in parties varying from ten to a
hundred, and search for food apart from the females;
the latter, with their young broods, usually join each
other, forming parties of seventy or eighty, and assid-
uously avoid the old males, which evince a disposition
to attack and destroy the young till they are fully grown.
The flocks of the district all move in the same direction,
seldom taking wing unless to escape the hunter’s dog,
or cross a river, which latter feat is not performed till
after some delay, during which they ascend the highest
eminences, and strut about and gobble as if to raise
their courage to a pitch befitting the emergency. Even
the females and young assume at this juncture a pom-
pous demeanour, spread out their tails, and ‘pur’ londly.

When the weather is settled, and they themselves
prepared, they take to flight for the opposite shore: the
old and robust easily cross a river of the breadth of a
mile, but the young and meagre birds often find their
strength fail, and fall into the water, not however to be
drowned, as might be imagined. They bring their wings
close to the body, spread out their tail, stretch forward
their neck, strike out vigorously with their legs, and
rapidly make way to the shore.”