The Heath Hen 



A Sketch of a Bird Now on the Verge of Extinction 



By DR. GEORGE W. FIELD, 



Chairman, Massachusetts Commission on Fisheries and Game 



DURING the past two years much interest has been shown to save the last 

 remnant of the Eastern Pinnated Grouse or Heath Hen (Tympanuchus 

 cupido). It was formerly distributed from Cape Ann to Virginia, and 

 was especially abundant in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Long; 

 Island and New Jersey; but immense numbers of adult birds were destroyed by 

 guns and traps, while the young fell victims to the colonial cat and to forest 

 fires. So abundant was this bird in the dark ages of ornithology, when indis- 

 criminate slaughter prevailed without thought of the bird's economic value or 

 place and function in Nature, that the articles of apprentices often specified. 

 that they should not be compelled to eat the meat of this Grouse, (locally 

 called 'Heath Hen'), often er than twice weekly. 



Between 1800 and 1840 the bird had been generally exterminated in Massa- 

 chusetts. In 1844 Giraud believed it to be extinct on Long Island; as late as 1869 

 it was still found in New Jersey, and today the very last stand of the bird is on the 

 island of Martha's Vineyard. 



The eastern bird was first distinguished from the western type by William 

 Brewster, and described by him under the name Cupidonia cupido (Auk, January 

 1885, p. 82). In 1890 Mr. Brewster estimated that 120 to 200 birds, inhabiting- 

 about forty square miles, were left over from the previous winter. This number 

 has slowly but surely diminished. Careful daily observations, extending from 

 October 1906 to May 1907, showed that the inhabited area has become restricted 

 to about thirty square miles, and the probable number of individuals to less than 

 one hundred. By actual count of the flocks very definitely located in various, 

 sections of the range, seventy-seven different individuals were accounted for. 

 In May 1906, a destructive forest fire swept practically the entire breeding- 

 grounds, and very few birds were reared that season. The summer of 1907, how- 

 ever, was a favorable one. We know that at least ten broods were successfully 

 reared, and our census this year will probably show that the number of birds has- 

 more than doubled. 



This Grouse (called 'Hethen' by the natives) has been a well-known and 

 characteristic bird of the island as far back as memory or local tradition extends. 

 Opinions are widely held that from time to time western Pinnated Grouse or 

 Prairie Hens have been liberated on the island. Careful inquiries indicate that 

 the facts are as follows: (i) In 1859 Dr. Fisher liberated Ruffed Grouse and 

 Quail on the island, but no western Prairie Chickens; (2) In 1902 specimens of 

 the western Prairie Chicken {Tympanuchus americanus), which had survived 

 the sportmen's show at Boston, were liberated on Martha's Vineyard, but no- 

 subsequent indications of their presence are known. 



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