Birds of Massachusetts. i 199 
are permitted to last. They are now cut down with 
wanton profusion ; and as fast as they are cleared 
away, birds of this description are driven to other 
regions less infested by man. 
The Pinnatep Grous, Tetrao cupido, was once 
very common in New England, but, being more shy 
than the preceding species, it has already been driven 
from all but a very few places, where it is compara- 
tively free from intrusion. Audubon says, that when 
he first went to Kentucky, they were so abundant, 
that they could hardly be given away ; now, hardly 
one can be found in the state, and they are, in like 
manner, fast disappearing from all the settled parts 
of the west. In Massachusetts, laws have been en- 
acted to preserve the heath-hen, as it is commonly 
called ; but it is impossible to withstand the opera- 
tion of the law of nature by legislative enactments, 
and the same causes which have removed the 
greater proportion will soon deprive us of all. 'The 
better way is to try the experiment of domestica- 
tion ; the bird is easily tamed, and breeds in confine- 
ment. Some which Audubon kept for the purpose, 
soon became familiar, and would eat from the hand 
as readily as common fowls. Unfortunately, they 
became so destructive to the vegetables of the gar- 
den, that he was obliged to have them killed ; but 
the experiment proceeded far enough to show, that 
neither the natural wildness of the bird, nor the want 
of proper food, would prevent their being reared by 
any one who is willing to take the trouble. 
The grous feeds on berries of various kinds, in 
