The Audubon Societies 



25i 



GENERAL NOTES 



The Heath Hen Reservation 



On April 15, 1915, I visited the Massa- 

 chusetts Heath Hen Reservation, on 

 Martha's Vineyard. The state owns 

 1,700 acres here of waste, scrubby land, 

 which has become the center of the last 

 stand of the Heath Hen. Originally, this 

 bird was found on the Atlantic plain from 

 Maine to Virgina, but in all that region it 



birds remained on the island. He now 

 believes the number to be about a 

 thousand, as a result of their being care- 

 fully guarded. 



In April, they come to open places in 

 the preserve, to strut, fight, dance, and 

 make love. I stood with Dr. Field, that 

 April afternoon, in. a blind a few hun- 

 dred feet from the warden's house, and 

 watched these birds go through their 



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BIRD-POOL AT THE HOME OF GEORGE H. MELLON, NEWTON HIGHLANDS, MASS. 



has been exterminated by the shotguns 

 of hunters, except on this one little island 

 off the Massachusetts coast. 



The credit for preserving the remnant 

 of this eastern form of the Prairie Chicken 

 is due to Dr. George W. Field, President 

 of the State Game Commission of Massa- 

 chusetts, who induced the Legislature 

 to provide for establishing this reserva- 

 tion about ten years ago. At that time, 

 Dr. Field estimated that about fifty 



wonderful performances at a distance of 

 only a few yards. When we were leaving 

 the blind at five o'clock, I counted 94 

 of these birds rising from the open field, 

 of not more than twenty acres, which 

 surrounded our hiding-place. 



Massachusetts has done a noble work 

 in preserving this species for the pleasure, 

 and doubtless for the future profit, of 

 mankind.— T. G. P. 



