turkey-hen
[Cf. turkey-cock.]
† 1. The guinea-hen. Obs.
| 1552 Elyot, Meleagrides, byrdes, whiche we doo call hennes of Genny, or Turkie hennes. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lii. 214 Called..Flos Meleagris..from a kinde of birde..whose feathers be speckled..not with Violet speckes, but with white and blacke spots, lyke to the feathers of the Turkie or Ginny hen, which is called Meleagris auis: some do also cal this flower Fritillaria. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 296 The Ginnie or Turkey hens in a part of Africke called Numidia, be in great request. |
2. The female of the turkey.
| 1555 Eden Decades 158 They [of Yucatan] brought..eyght of their hennes beynge as bygge as peacockes, of brownyshe coloure, and not inferiour to peacockes in pleasaunte tast. [margin] Turky hens. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Poule d'Inde, a Turkie henne. 1592 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham) 72 Towe turkes and onne turkie henne vijs. 1760 [see turkey-cock 3]. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 710 When a turkey-hen is seen disposed to lay, a nest should be made for her in the hatching-house. |