The Heath Hen 



251 



Siiuf alnidsl nothinj,' has been recorded of the habits of the Heath Hen, the 

 ioUowiiig notes, made by the writer on the spot, may be of interest. 



Maktha's Vi.xeyakd, May i, 1906 



At 6 I'. M., we arrived al the point where we hoped to thid traces of the Heath 

 Hen. In a cleared t'leki aljout thirty rods from the road we di.stinctly saw two large 

 birds. On our nearer approach they squatted close, and their protective coloration 

 was so effective that, although we knew almost exactly the precise location of the 

 birds, we could not distinguish them. We crawled behind the nearest cover, and 



THE HOME OF THE H 



The men are looliing at the nest shcjw n in tin nt\t illu~tr,ili. m. 

 Photographed by George W. Field 



remained motionless for perhaps ten minutes. At length the long shadows from 

 the descending sun enabled us to distinguish the birds as they crouched with head 

 close to the ground, among the very scanty vegetation. After another interval of 

 motionless activity on our part, one bird quickly arose and began feeding, appar- 

 ently without suspicion; soon two more birds arose as if by magic from the ground. 

 Then began a most interesting series of antics. These birds were joined by five 

 others, coming in singly and on foot from the scrub in various directions. The 

 birds came frequentlv within forty paces of our hiding-place, and in one instance 

 alighted on a small oak tree twentv-three paces frf)m our camera. While not near 



