heath-henn.
(a) The female of the heath-cock n.; the Grey-hen. (b) Applied in North America to species of grouse.
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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > member of genus Lyrurus (black grouse) > female
greyhen1550
heath-hen1591
heath-poult1678
1591 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) I. 66 A lade of Alexander Bradshawes wch broughte hethe henes iiijd.
1670 D. Denton Brief Descr. N.-Y. 5 Wild Fowl there is great store of, as Turkies, Heath-Hens, Quailes.
1728 J. Thomson Spring 35 O'er the trackless Waste The Heath-Hen flutters.
1893 A. Newton Dict. Birds Heath-cock and Heath-hen, originally names by which..the Black-cock and Grey-hen were called; but on the North American continent..applied to one or more species of grouse.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
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n.1591