THE BIRD BOOK 
Prairie Chicken 
Heath Hen 
breeding season, and capable of being inflated to 
the size of a small orange; this is done when the 
bird makes its familiar “booming” noise. They 
are very good “table birds” and although they are 
still very abundant in most of their range, so 
many are being*- killed for market, that it has 
become necessary to make more stringent laws 
relating to the killing and sale of Pinnated 
Grouse, as they are often called. They nest any- 
where on the prairie, in hollows on the ground 
under overhanging bushes or tufts of grass. They 
lay from eight to fifteen eggs having a huffy or 
olive buff ground color, sparingly and finely 
sprinkled with brown; size 1.70 x 1.25. 
305a. Attwater Prairie Chicken. Tympanu- 
elms americaniis attrvateri. 
Range. — Coast region of Louisiana and Texas. 
This is a slightly smaller and darker variety of 
the Pinnated Grouse. Its eggs cannot be distin- 
guished from those of the more northerly dis- 
tributed bird. 
30(). Heath Hen. Tympanuchus eupido. 
Range. — Island of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. 
This species is similar to the preceding, but has the scapulars more broadly 
tipped with buff, the axillars barred, and the pinnated feathers on the neck 
pointed. It is slightly smaller than the western species. It is found on the 
wooded portions of the island, where its breeding habits are the same as those of 
the Ruffed Grouse. Mr. Brewster probably has the only authentic set of the 
eggs of this species. They are of a yellowish green color and are unspotted. 
Size 1.70 x 1.25. A number of Prairie Hens liberated on the island several 
years ago are apparently thriving well, and nests found there now would be 
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