WHY THE TURKEY GOBBLES
The Grouse used to have a fine voice and a good halloo in the ballplay. All the animals and birds used to play ball in those days and were just as proud of a loud halloo as the ball players of today.
The Turkey had not a good voice, so he asked the Grouse to give him lessons. The Grouse agreed to teach him, but wanted pay for his trouble, and the Turkey promised to give him some feathers to make himself a collar. That is how the Grouse got his collar of turkey feathers.
They began the lessons and the Turkey learned very fast until the Grouse thought it was time to try his voice.
"Now," said the Grouse, "I'll stand on this hollow log, and when I give the signal by tapping on it, you must halloo as loudly as you can."
So he got upon the log ready to tap on it, as a Grouse does, but when he gave the signal the Turkey was so eager and excited that he could not raise his voice for a shout, but only gobbled, and ever since then he gobbles whenever he hears a noise.
Story Title: Why The Turkey Gobbles
Book Title: Myths of the Cherokee
Author: James Mooney
Published: 1900
Rights: CC0 Public Domain
Online Source: Sacred Texts
Process: Light editing for paragraphing and punctuation.
Additional Notes: You can read about Cherokee stickball at Wikipedia. The story also explains how the grouse got his feather-collar too! More about the grouse at Wikipedia.