“He is a gay Lothario and will covet and steal his neighbor’s wives and daughters; and if his neighbors protest he will fight to the finish. He is artful, cunning and sly, at the same time a stupendous fool… He has no sentiment beyond a dudish and pompous admiration for himself, and he covets every hen he sees.”
This exerpt is from Chapter 6 in the 1914 book The Wild Turkey and its Hunting by Edward A. McIlhenny. The book was digitized through the Biodiversity Heritage Library from a volume in the collection of the Smithsonian Libraries. Click the photo to read it online.
Related posts:
Happy Thanksgiving! Here are 25 fun turkey-related objects in Smithsonian collections!
Scientists in awe of huge olfactory bulb found in turkey vulture brain
Study shows turkey vulture is doubly blessed with acute vision and sense of smell
Today’s domestic turkeys are genetically distinct from wild ancestors
