GROUSE 
277 
“This familiar game bird inhabits our fertile prairies, seldom fre- 
quenting the timbered lands except during sleety storms or when the 
ground is covered with snow. Its flesh is dark, and it is not very highly 
esteemed as a table bird. 
“During the early breeding season they feed largely upon grass- 
hoppers, crickets, and other forms of insect life, but afterward chiefly 
upon our cultivated grains, gleaned from the stubble in autumn and 
the cornfields in winter; they are also fond of tender buds, berries, and 
fruits. They run about much like our domestic fowls; but with a more 
stately carriage. When flushed they rise from the ground with a less 
whirring sound than the Ruffed Grouse or Bob-white, and their flight 
is not so swift, but more protracted and with less apparent effort, flap- 
ping and sailing along, often to the distance of a mile or more. In the 
fall the birds collect together and remain in flocks until the warmth 
of spring quickens their blood and awakes the passions of love; then, 
as with a view to fairness and the survival of the fittest, they select a 
smooth open courtship ground (usually called a ‘scratching ground’), 
where the males assemble at the early dawn to vie with each other in 
courage and pompous display, uttering at the same time their love 
call, a loud booming noise; as soon as this is heard by the hen birds 
desirous of mating they quietly put in an appearance, squat upon the 
ground, apparently indifferent observers, until claimed by victorious 
rivals, which they gladly accept, and receive their caresses” (Goss). 
1908. Chapman, F. M., Camps and Cruises, 231-235 (display). 
306. Tympanuchus cupido {Linn.). Heath Hen. Similar to the 
preceding, but the scapulars broadly tipped with buffy; the neck tufts of 
less than ten feathers; these feathers pointed , not rounded , at the ends. 
Range. — Is. of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Formerly s. New England 
and parts of the Middle States. 
Nest , “in oak woods, among sprouts at the base of a large stump” (Brew- 
ster). Eggs , “creamy buff in color, with a slight greenish tinge,” 1'73 x 1‘29. 
Date , Martha’s Vineyard, June 10. 
In the early part of this century the Heath Hen was found locally 
throughout the Middle States, where, unlike its western representative, 
the Prairie Hen, it lived in wooded districts. In New Jersey the last Heath 
Hen was killed on the Barnegat Plains about 1870 ( Bird-Lore , 1903, p. 50) . 
It is now restricted to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, an excellent 
illustration of the protection afforded by an insular habitat. 
Mr. William Brewster, writing in 1890 {Forest and Stream , 188, p. 207), 
estimated that there were from one hundred and twenty to two hundred 
Heath Hens then on the island. In 1907 this number according to 
Field {Bird-Lore, IX, pp. 249-255, and 42nd. Ann. Rep. Mass. Comm.) 
was reduced to seventy-seven. Proper protective measures were now 
introduced, the birds began at once to increase, and in 1910 they were 
estimated to number “upwards of three hundred” (Field in epist.). 
Field describes the Heath Hen’s call as a toot which can be “imitated by 
blowing gently into the neck of a two-drachm homoeopathic vial. 
