GROUSE 277 



"This familiar game bird inhabits our fertile prairies, seldom fre- 

 quenting the timbered lands except during sleety storms or when the 

 ground is covered with snow. Its flesh is dark, and it is not very highly 

 esteemed as a table bird. 



"During the early breeding season they feed largely upon grass- 

 hoppers, crickets, and other forms of insect life, but afterward chiefly 

 upon our cultivated grains, gleaned from the stubble in autumn and 

 the cornfields in winter; they are also fond of tender buds, berries, and 

 fruits. They run about much like our domestic fowls; but with a more 

 stately carriage. When flushed they rise from the ground with a less 

 whirring sound than the Ruffed Grouse or Bob-white, and their flight 

 is not so swift, but more protracted and with less apparent effort, flap- 

 ping and sailing along, often to the distance of a mile or more. In the 

 fall the birds collect together and remain in flocks until the warmth 

 of spring quickens their blood and awakes the passions of love; then, 

 as with a view to fairness and the survival of the fittest, they select a 

 smooth open courtship ground (usually called a 'scratching ground'), 

 where the males assemble at the early dawn to vie with each other in 

 courage and pompous display, uttering at the same time their love 

 call, a loud booming noise; as soon as this is heard by the hen birds 

 desirous of mating they quietly put in an appearance, squat upon the 

 ground, apparently indifferent observers, until claimed by victorious 

 rivals, which they gladly accept, and receive their caresses" (Goss). 



1908. CHAPMAN, F. M., Camps and Cruises, 231-235 (display). 



306. Tympanuclms cupido (Linn.}. HEATH HEN. Similar to the 

 preceding, but the scapulars broadly tipped with buffy; the neck tufts of 

 less than ten feathers; these feathers pointed, not rounded, at the ends. 



Range. Is. of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Formerly s. New England 

 and parts of the Middle States. 



Nest, "in oak woods, among sprouts at the base of a large stump" (Brew- 

 ster). Eggs, "creamy buff in color, with a slight greenish tinge," 1'73 x 1'29. 

 Date, Martha's Vineyard, June 10. 



In the early part of this century the Heath Hen was found locally 

 throughout the Middle States, where, unlike its western representative, 

 the Prairie Hen, it lived in wooded districts. In New Jersey the last Heath 

 Hen was killed on the Barnegat Plains about 1870 (Bird-Lore, 1903, p. 50). 

 It is now restricted to the island of Martha's Vineyard, an excellent 

 illustration of the protection afforded by an insular habitat. 



Mr. William Brewster, writing in 1890 (Forest and Stream, 188, p. 207), 

 estimated that there were from one hundred and twenty to two hundred 

 Heath Hens then on the island. In 1907 this number according to 

 Field (Bird-Lore, IX, pp. 249-255, and 42nd. Ann. Rep. Mass. Comm.) 

 was reduced to seventy-seven. Proper protective measures were now 

 introduced, the birds began at once to increase, and in 1910 they were 

 estimated to number "up wards of three hundred" (Field in epist.). 

 Field describes the Heath Hen's call as a toot which can be "imitated by 

 blowing gently into the neck of a two-drachm homoeopathic vial. 



