Actually, a long time ago, turkeys and peacocks were two of the most beautiful birds in the world. Just look at a male peacock in full plumage, with its black, fan-like tail adorned with green and red spots and its head topped by a proud crest. What a spectacular bird!

Turkeys used to look as good as peacocks, if not better. When they displayed their white tails, they looked neat and elegant, and their heads flaunted a crown of fair feathers. They looked so noble.

There was one turkey, however, who was really weird. He always wanted to compete with peacocks.

He would point his finger at other birds and demand in an imposing manner, "Gobble, gobble. Tell me, who's the most beautiful bird in the world, a peacock or me?"

All of the birds were afraid of the turkey because of his hot temper, so they always answered, "You are no doubt the most beautiful bird in the world." Satisfied, the turkey would gobble loudly with pride.

Many birds discussed this privately with each other. "That turkey is so quick-tempered. He is by no means the most beautiful bird in the world. The peacock, who is always gentle and friendly, is the fairest bird!" They always tried to avoid the turkey whenever they saw him, but they would swarm around the peacock and greet him warmly. The peacock had a lot of friends, but the turkey lived a very lonely life.

One day, a fairy came to the forest. When she saw the elegant peacock, she cheerfully walked up to him and greeted him, "Good day, beautiful bird."

"Good day," he answered warmly. "I am a peacock."

"I could not resist the temptation to come over and say hello to you. You have such striking appearance! You must be the most beautiful bird in the world."

"Thank you. It really doesn't matter if I am the most beautiful bird in the world, but it does matter to me whether or not I have a good heart."

The birds in the forest slowly flocked to them. They were all attracted to the charming appearances of the fairy and the peacock. Just at that moment, the turkey came strutting along. He angrily spread his tail feathers and yelled, "Gobble, gobble. What are you doing here?" The fairy and all of the birds were taken aback by his rudeness.

The turkey shouted at the flock of birds. "Tell me, who is the most beautiful bird in the world, the peacock or me?"

All the birds were scared and answered unanimously, "It's you."

"No, it's the peacock," a firm voice said.

The turkey burned with fury when he heard this. "Gobble, gobble. Who said that?"

The other birds could see that his face was growing red with rage. They were so frightened that they all flew away. Only the peacock and the fairy stayed where they were.

"I said that," the fairy told him. "The peacock is the most beautiful bird in the world."

"Gobble, gobble. What? How dare you say that?" The turkey almost exploded with anger. He turned to the peacock and asked, "Now you tell me, who is the most beautiful bird in the world?"

"I admit that you are the most beautiful bird in the world," the peacock said sincerely. "But you are so short-tempered. You don't look beautiful at all when you are angry."

"You'd better control your temper," the fairy added. "If you keep getting angry, the feathers on your head will fall out and your nose will droop down, and then you'll be really ugly."

"Gobble, gobble. Shut up, you liars! You... You'll pay for this." The turkey was so angry that in the end he could only gobble loudly.

"Gobble, gobble, gobble." Strange things started to happen. His nose really started to sag down, and the feathers on his head fell out one by one until he was completely bald.

This is why the turkeys we see today look the way they do. They still have white tail feathers, but because they have never tried to improve their tempers and they always gobble loudly at people, their noses have never returned to their original shapes and their head feathers have never grown back.