248 



Bird- Lore 



In the winter, he told u?, the birds came much nearer his home. That he fed 

 them twice a day during extreme cold, but that they never came to eat the food 

 he put out while he was in sight. 



"No," he said, "I have never found a nest. Have I searched? Yes, but 

 I have too much to do to make that my business. I heard one was found as early 

 as April near the old Seaman's hos])ita], back of Vineyard Haven, but it was 

 not proven." 



"Is the Heath Hen increasing?" I asked. 



"It is," replied he. "When I came here, about two years ago, there were 

 less than sixty in the flock which came to feed in cold weather. This last winter 

 I counted over a hundred. In m\- report to the Fish and Game Commission, I 

 estimated the entire flock on the island at one hundred and fifty. " 



"That removes the fear of extinction," I concluded. "A game bird that 

 triples in number wathin two years must survive, even if it never becomes as num- 

 erous as in the da}-s of early Boston, when its common prevalence caused servitors 

 to stipulate with their employers not to have Heath Hen served oftener than once 

 a da\-. 



K.\ IKAXCi: AMj km 1 UV A RUFFED GROUSE'S NIGHT'S LODGING 



l'liolugra|jli(.il ljy Kitliaril S. Eustcs, at Randolph, N. H., Jan. i, 1909 



