+ 
miles, and the probable number of individuals to less than 100. 
By actual count of the flocks very definitely located in various 
sections of the range, 77 different individuals were accounted 
for. In May, 1906, a destructive forest fire swept practically 
the entire breeding grounds, and very few birds were reared that 
season. The summer of 1907, however, was a favorable one. 
We know that at least ten broods were successfully reared, and 
our census this year will probably show that the number of birds 
has more than doubled. 
This grouse (called “ hethern” by the natives) has been a 
well-known and characteristic bird of the island as far back as 
memory or local tradition extends. Opinions are widely held 
that from time to time western pinnated grouse or prairie hens 
have been liberated on the island. Careful inquiries indicate 
that the facts are as follows: (1) in 1859 Dr. Fisher liberated 
ruffed grouse and quail on the island, but no western prairie 
chickens; (2) in 1902 three specimens of the western prairie 
chicken (Lympanuchus americanus), which had survived the 
sportsmen’s show at Boston, were liberated on Martha’s Vine- 
yard, but no subsequent indications of their presence are known. 
In 1877 foxes and coons were introduced for sport and later 
liberated from spite, but it is probable that these have now been 
exterminated, and at present the chief checks to the increase of 
the heath hen are (1) the forest fires, which in recent years 
have swept large areas of the breeding grounds almost annually, 
usually during the nesting period; (2) cats, whether kept or 
abandoned by the summer visitors, feed upon the young heath 
hens, terns and other birds; (3) certain species of hawks, notably 
the goshawk, are known to kill considerable numbers of adult 
grouse; (4) with the increase of poultry raising on the islands, 
particularly of the turkey, there is danger of the introduction 
of enteric diseases, notably “the black head,” caused by the 
internal parasite Ameba meleagridis, which is equally fatal to 
turkeys, ruffed grouse and quail, but which is also spread by 
domestic fowls. 
About 1818 the heath hen disappeared from the district 
around Springfield, Mass. In 1824 it was reported as no longer 
common around Boston. Cape Cod was the last stand on the 
main land. In 1831 the grouse or heath hen had become so 
