LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. 19 
Connecticut and the eastern parts of New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, and Vir<rinia. 
As no stomachs of tliis now rai-c l)ir(l were to lie had for examina- 
tion, we must depend on the work of other investigators for knowl- 
edge of its food habits. Audubon" quotes David Eckley as follows: 
The bayborry. whicli nbounds in iiijiny parts of Martha's Vinoyanl. is tlie 
principal food of the (Jrous particularly such as prows on low luishos near the 
ground, and is easily reached by the birds. They also fce<l on the lK)xberry. 
or partridjre berry, the highland and lowland cranberry, rosebuds, pine and 
alder buds, acorns, etc. 
William Brewster in LSOO ascertained that, all told, there were 
probably only about '200 heath hens, and that they were confined to 
about 40 square miles of the island of Marthas Vineyard. In speak- 
ing of their habits, he says : ^ 
At all sea.sons the heath hens live almost exclusively in the oak woods, 
where the acorns furnish them abundant food, although, like our ruffed prrouse. 
they occasionally, at early morniufr and just after sunset, venture out a little 
way in the open to pick up scattered jrrains of corn or to pluck a few clover 
leaves, of which they are extremely fond. They also wander to some extent 
over the scrub-oak plains, especially when blueberries are ripe and abundant. 
In winter, during long-continued snows, they sometimes approach buildings to 
feed uiK)n the grain which the farmers throw out to them. 
If this bird can be saved from extinction and introduced into many 
of the Eastern States, it will be much more likely to succeed, on ac- 
count of its woodland habits and narrow range, than the prairie hen, 
which requires a more open country and usually does not take refuge 
in woods from its enemies. Experiments with the heath hen must be 
made soon, however, or it is likely to become extinct. 
THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. 
(Tyiiii)aniichiix pallidicinctus.) 
The lesser prairie hen is a smaller bird than the common species 
of the Mississippi Valley and is found from western Texas north 
to western Kansas. But little of its life history is known. It 
has been found breeding abundantly the first of June at Fort 
Cobb, Ind. T., and William Lloyd observed this grouse wintering 
in Concho and Tom Green counties, Tex. H. C. Oberholser, of 
the Biological Survey, found them common in August. 1901, in 
Wheeler County, Tex., where they frequented rolling plains over- 
grown with oak brush from 1 to 4 feet high. These oaks are ever- 
green, and the prairie hen feeds upon the buds and young shoots. 
At the time of Oberholser's visit the birds were in coveys of from 
« Ornith. Biog.. II, p. r»00, lS.^j. 
6 Forest and Stream. XXXV. p. 188, 1890. 
