§2 Brewster on the Heath Hen of Massachusetts. [January 



hardly possible that in those early days they could have been 

 obtained from anywhere west of the Alleghanies. 



Having thus briefly stated a case which is not less remarkable 

 than interesting, I propose to distinguish the forms in question 

 as follows : 



Cupidonia cupido {Linn.). Heath Hen. 



Sp. char. $. Ground-color above light reddish-brown or rusty ; be- 

 neath rusty-white with transverse bars of dark reddish-brown, the dark 

 color prevailing over the lighter on the exposed portions of the feathers; 

 plumage of tibiae and tarsi brownish-cinnamon thickly mottled with 

 whitish; neck-tufts composed of from three to five narrow, acutely lance- 

 pointed, stiffened feathers, with about the same number of overlap- 

 ping coverts. Wing, 8.35; tarsus, 1.75; bill, .38 deep, by .55 long from 

 nostril. 



J. Smaller (wing, 7.93) ; darker and rustier; the dark bars beneath 

 dull black; tail dark clove-brown with numerous fine, irregular, rusty 

 bars. 



Habitat. — Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts ; formerly found at vari- 

 ous points in Eastern Massachusetts, Southern Connecticut, Long Island, 

 New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; perhaps also Southern New England and 

 the Middle States generally. A woodland species, inhabiting scrubby 

 tracts of oak and pine. 



Cupidonia pinnata nov. spec* Prairie Hen. 



Sp. char. Ground-color above brownish-ochraceous tinged with gray; 

 beneath white with transverse bars of clear dusky brown, this color not 

 prevailing over the lighter tints; tibiae and tarsi brownish-ochraceous not 

 mottled with whitish; neck-tufts comprising from seven to ten stiffened 

 feathers, obtusely pointed or even broadly rounded at their tips. Wing, 

 9.00; tarsus, 2.10; bill, .40 deep by .60 long from nostril. 



J. Smaller, similar in general color and markings, but with the tail 

 barred. 



Habitat. — Prairies, from Illinois westward. A bird of the open, breed- 

 ing on treeless plains, and seldom or never inhabiting timber. 



Cupidonia piunata has been too often and carefully treated under the 

 name C. cupido to require further consideration here. The eastern 

 species, however, although destined to bear a familiar name, is practically 

 a new bird. Accordingly I find it necessary to redescribe the original C. 

 cupido as follow.s : % 



$ (No. 5330, Coll. W. B., Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Nov. 1879. From 

 F. T. Jerffcks). Ground-color of upper parts light reddish-brown some- 



*Types : 8 No. 2689, ? No. 2690, Coll. W. B. — Vermilion, Dakota, January 20, 

 1877. 



