I 
The Heath Hen To-Day. 
he great interest aroused in recent years as 
le threatened extermination of the heath hen 
led to active work in its behalf in Massachu- 
s, where only the bird still exists, 
nee found along the coast from Massachusetts 
Virginia, it is exterminated everywhere ex¬ 
on Martha’s Vineyard. The earlier writers 
ce of the heath cocke, as they called it, as 
;edingly abundant all around the Massachu- 
3 settlements, and this abundance apparently 
:inued until about the beginning of the last 
ury. Mr. Brewster, in his “Birds of the 
ibridge Region,” quotes Mrs. Eliza Cabot 
laving seen a bird in the vicinity of Boston 
ut 1811. In 1832 Nutall speaks of them as 
found in certain districts of Connecticut. 
1840 the bird had been quite generally ex- 
ninated in Massachusetts, though it lingered 
'lew Jersey as late as 1869. 
It. Wm. Brewster, after careful studies of 
grouse and their island home, estimated in 
) that those left on Martha’s Vineyard num- 
;d between 120 and 200 birds and inhabited 
area of about forty square miles. In the 
ng of 1907 the probable number of indi- 
I lals was less than 100. Owing to a forest 
in May, which swept practically the entire 
eding grounds, very few birds were reared, 
the summer of 1907 was favorable and at 
,t ten broods were successfully reared. The 
ssachusetts Commissioners of Fisheries and 
ne declare that the present checks to the in- 
ise of the heath hen are the forest fires which 
ost annually sweep over the breeding grounds 
nd usually during the breeding season—cats 
le or abandoned, certain hawks—as the 
hawk—and a disease of the domestic turkey, 
iwn as “blackhead,” which is equally fatal 
turkeys, ruffed grouse and quail, and which 
pread by the domestic fowl, 
n 1831 the heath hen had become so scarce 
Massachusetts that a law was passed estab- 
ing a close season for the birds from March 
>o Sept. 1. In 1837, and again in 1841, abso- 
: protection was decreed for four and five 
rs, respectively. In these acts, however, it 
!; provided that any town might suspend the 
ration of the law, and this provision was 
. re than once taken advantage of. 
' Ip to the year 1905 there was no systematic 
■mpt to enforce the protective law in Martha’s 
leyard. The islanders objected to the coming 
outside gunners, yet many birds were killed 
rabbit hunters, duck hunters and ornitho- 
ical collectors. 
nteresting observations on the mating habits 
the birds, made in May, 1906, were printed 
August in Forest and Stream. Other notes 
"e made by William Hazen Gates, of Wil- 
nstown, Mass., who worked with the com- 
sioners in studying the habits of the heath 
1 for the purpose of securing information 
ich might be of service in artificially propa- 
ing the species: 
On May 31, while wandering across the plains, 
three heath hens were started, and each taking 
wing flew nearly out of sight before alighting. 
As I watched the birds, a call, resembling to a 
slight degree that of an ordinary barnyard cock 
calling to the hens, was heard not far distant. 
The place was noted as nearly as possible, and 
then cautiously I made my way there. When 
the place was reached I looked for birds, but 
could see none. I then sat down and deter¬ 
mined to wait, in order to see if any birds could 
be heard. The ground was covered with leaves, 
jo the least stir would have been heard. I lis¬ 
tened and also looked for signs of anything 
moving, but none appeared. I sat there for fully 
twenty minutes, and hearing nothing concluded 
that either there were no birds or else they had 
gone as I approached. As I rose a bird flew 
up within twenty feet of where I had been 
watching. The bird had been within sight all 
the while, but probably had crouched in the 
leaves and remained invisible. It would have 
been interesting to note how much longer the 
bird would have stayed in this position without 
moving. Another bird was started some fifty 
feet from this one. 
“On this same day the toots of one or more 
heath hens were heard between 4:30 and 5 A. M. 
The birds are early risers and late bed-goers. 
Once they were heard to toot at 3 130 A. M., or 
about an hour before sunrise; and several times 
their call note was heard as early as this. It 
is probable, though, that they do not begin to 
stir quite so early, beginning their breakfasting 
about sunrise or a little earlier. The middle 
of the day is generally spent in the shade, or 
in dusting in the sand in the roads. Late in 
the afternoon^ as the air begins to cool, they 
take to feeding again, and can be seen in the 
open fields. They will often feed till nearly an 
hour after sundown. I do not know whether 
they roost in the low shrubbery or on the ground 
at night. Mother birds with young, however, 
stay on the ground, but it is likely that this is 
done only while the young are too small to 
roost and need the shelter of the mother. 
“On June 29 a bevy of heath hens was found. 
The mother bird took flight, cackling, and flew 
some fifty feet or so. The young scudded in 
every direction, and were entirely out of sight 
by the time I reached the spot. I hunted around 
through the leaves some, but fearing that I might 
accidentally step on one, did not search very 
carefully and so did not see any. Two days 
later what I think must have been the same 
bevy was again seen, but half a mile from the 
place where they were first seen. This time they 
were in a more or less cleared space, and six 
of the young were counted. One or two squat¬ 
ted just where they were, and it looked as if 
one might go right up to them and pick them 
up. I did not, however, disturb them. These 
birds were apparently not over a week old. 
“On July 2 a mother Heath hen and four young 
were seen dusting in a road about 11 A. M. 
Upon seeing me the mother ran to the bushes 
and called to the young. As I went by I could 
hear the mother hen at the side of the road in 
the bushes. The same day, in the afternoon, 
a mother hen and one young bird was seen. 
“On July 7, while walking through the brush 
near the Cromwell cottage, soon after sundown, 
I heard some peeping ahead. Getting on my 
hands and knees I crawled toward the sound. 
The peeping continued as I approached, so I 
knew that I had not been perceived. Finally, at 
a distance of some twenty or twenty-five feet, I 
saw a mother hen, with wings spread, under the 
thick foliage of a stunted oak. She was more 
or less silent, only occasionally uttering a low 
call, somewhat resembling that of a hen as she 
calls her chicks at night under her wings. The 
young, however, peeped quite often as they stole 
in and out from under the wings of the mother. 
I think they could not have been much more 
than a day or two old. Like the chicks of other 
fowls they could not seem to get settled for 
the night, but would stray in and out. Then 
as they sought a place of shelter again they 
would shove one of their fellows out from under 
the mother’s wing. However, as darkness grew 
the restlessness ceased, and by the time it was 
too dark to see the group everything was silent. 
How many there were in the bevy I could not 
tell, but it seemed as if there must have been 
at least six or eight.” 
Observations conducted over two years by the 
Massachusetts Commission show that the birds 
pack during the winter, congregating in large 
flocks in spots where food is abundant. They 
find grain put out for their benefit and return 
to such feeding places morning and evening with 
considerable regularity. On May 2, 1907, twenty- 
one birds were counted on Jan. II, 1908- An 
exact count was impossible, but the number was 
not less than fifty-five nor more than sixty. The 
birds remain in large flocks until late in Febru¬ 
ary. The mating calls begin to be heard about 
that time and soon after the first of March the 
flocks break up. The laying begins soon after 
May 15. The chicks are hatched in June. The 
eggs are from nine to thirteen in number and 
the young are strong and hardy. 
This bird is especially adapted to survive in 
southern New England and in fact all over its 
old range, provided it receives reasonable pro¬ 
tection. It is a useful bird to the farmer, for 
it eats insects and weed seeds besides clover, 
acorns and berries, and if sufficiently protected 
to greatly increase in numbers it would be a 
valuable bird for shooting. 
To J E. Howland is due the credit for initiat¬ 
ing action which, it is hoped, may prevent the 
extinction of this bird. He called the Massa¬ 
chusetts Commission’s attention to the con 1- 
tions on the island and a guardian was located 
in the midst of the region inhabited by the 
birds to study them and enforce the law. Rep¬ 
resentative Mayhew introduced a bill placing 
under the control and use of the Massachusetts 
Commission such lands as may be donated, 
leased, purchased or otherwise placed under 
temporary or permanent control, as a refuge 
or breeding area for the heath hen. Already 
a considerable amount of money has been 
