282 Bird Studies. 



Wood Thrush, no longer shy, though formerly a bird of solitude in the 

 deep woods, now seeks the neighborhood of houses to breed and sings from 

 the trees along village streets. A number of the swallows have notably 

 changed their habits in so vital a matter as the location of their nests, utiliz- 

 ing the buildings that have been reared by man. I cannot imagine a much 

 more radical change. The disappearance of the Wild Pigeon from the East- 

 ern States in comparatively recent times, and the extinction of another bird 

 of strong flight, the Labrador Duck, which was a common market bird in 

 New York City seventy-five years ago, cannot be ascribed alone to the num- 

 bers killed by sportsmen. A combination of circumstances reaching much 

 deeper than one or more apparent factors must be looked for to account for 

 such results. 



No doubt the insular situation of the survivors of the Heath Hen has 

 been a factor in protecting them longer than their congeners of the mainland, 

 but it is difficult to believe that in such wildernesses as still exist in New York 

 and New England these birds have been exterminated by the gunner alone. 

 The latest reports from Martha's Vineyard indicate the existence of at least 

 several packs of Heath Hens, perhaps a hundred birds altogether, but they 

 are not so numerous as they were ten years ago. 



These birds are about the same size as and of similar appearance to the 

 Prairie Hen. They are more broadly marked with buffy white on the 

 feathers of the shoulders and the "pinnate" feather tufts of the neck are 

 composed of not more than ten feathers each. These feathers are noticeably 

 pointed at their tips. The female is smaller than the male and has the 

 " pinnate " tufts of the neck much reduced, or rudimentary. 



The eggs are laid in nests situated on the ground in oak woods at the 

 base of a stump. They are olive buff in color, about an inch and three 

 quarters long and a little over an inch and a quarter broad. 



The Prairie Hen is about eighteen inches long. It is found on the 

 prairies of the Mississippi Valley south to Louisiana and Texas, east to Ken- 

 Prairie Hen tucky and Michigan, and west through Kansas and Ne- 

 xympanuchus americanus braska to the eastern parts of North and South Dakota. 

 It ranges north to Manitoba. It is generally resident, 

 but migrates north and south in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. The pre- 

 vailing opinion seems to be that its eastward range is becoming contracted, and 

 that it is extending the westward boundary of its range. 



