my commonplace: the Turkey

I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character...The turkey is, in comparison, a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America...He is, though a little vain and silly, it is true, but not the worse emblem for that, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards.