THE HEATH HEN 



{tympanuchus cupido) 



rnmS bird is very closely allied to the now 

 better-known Praiiie Hen. The Heath Hen, 

 as it is rather inappropriately termed, for it is 

 an arboreal species, and heath is a plant by no 

 means common in America, formerly had a some- 

 what extensive distribution, ranging over Eastern 

 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, New 

 Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Its extermination is 

 probably due to the felling of timber and clear- 

 ance of land, together with wanton shooting in 

 the nesting season, before game laws came into 

 existence or were so strictly enforced. It is 

 melancholy to know that this interesting species 

 is now limited to an area of about forty square 

 miles on the Island of Martha's Vineyard, 

 Massachusetts. Here, however, this last remnant 

 of a formerly abundant species is strictly protected 

 by law, and it is some satisfaction to be able to 



