248 



Bird -Lore 



In the winter, he told us, the birds came much nearer his hume. That he fed 

 them twice a day during extreme cold, but that the}- never came to eat the food 

 he put out while he was in sight. 



"No," he said, "I have never found a nest. Have I searched? Yes, but 

 I have too much to do to make that my business. I heard one was found as early 

 as April near the old Seaman's hospital, back of X'ineyard Haven, but it was 

 not proven." 



"Is the Heath Hen increasing?" I asked. 



"It is," replied he. "When I came here, about two years ago, there were 

 less than sixty in the flock which came to feed in cold weather. This last winter 

 I counted over a hundred. In m\- report to the I-'ish and Game Commission, I 

 estimated the entire flock on the island at one hundred and fifty. " 



"That removes the fear of extinction," I concluded. "A game bird that 

 triples in number within two years must survive, even if it never becomes as num- 

 erous as in the days of early Boston, when its common j^revalence caused servitors 

 to stipulate with their employers not to have Heath Hen served oftener than once 

 a dav. 



LNTKA.NCE AND KXIT t)l' A lU 1 II.U C.ROUSF.'S NICHT'S I.nln.INi; 

 Photogruplicil by Kitlianl S. Kuslcs, at Raiulolpli, N. H., Jan. i, igog 



