32 BULLETIN 140, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



with " sepia " and " drab," tinged with " pinkish buff," these mark- 

 ings decreasing laterally ; the chin, upper throat and belly are white ; 

 the lower throat, chest, and flanks are suffused with " pale pinkish 

 buff," streaked on the throat and chest and barred on the flanks with 

 " sepia." These colors soon fade until the edgings become nearly 

 white. 



A partial molt takes place mainly in September, involving the 

 body plumage, the tail and some of the wing coverts; this produces 

 the first winter plumage, which can be distingaiished from the adult 

 only by the retained juvenal wing coverts. This plumage is worn 

 through the winter and I think, in most cases, through the first 

 spring. At the next complete molt, the first postnuptial, the adult 

 winter plumage is acquired. 



Adults have a nearly complete prenuptial molt in March, April, 

 and May, involving everything but the flight feathers of the wings, 

 which are apparently molted later in the fall or earl}'^ in the winter. 

 I have not actually seen these feathers molting. The lighter por- 

 tions of the spring plumage wear away during the breeding season, 

 giving the birds a very black appearance above. The complete post- 

 nuptial molt begins with the body plumage in August, or even 

 July, and by September the plain " smoke gray " winter plumage 

 is assumed. 



Food. — The favorite feeding grounds of the eastern willet are 

 on the broad mud flats or sand flats in the bayous, bays, and es- 

 tuaries on the coast ; it also feeds along the muddy banlcs of creeks 

 and ditches, or about the pond holes and splashes on the salt marshes. 

 If disturbed at its feeding it rises with a loud outcry, alarming all 

 the birds within hearing. W. J. Erichsen (1921) has noted that, al- 

 though they feed at all hours of the day, the nesting birds are seldom 

 found on their nests during the early morning hours, when there 

 seems to be a concerted movement from the breeding grounds to 

 their feeding places. I am inclined to think, however, that they are 

 governed more by the tides than by the hours, as most of their feed- 

 ing grounds are covered at high tide. 



Their food consists of aquatic insects, marine worms, small crabs, 

 fiddlers, small mollusks, fish fry, and small fish. Some vegetable 

 matter is eaten, such as grasses, tender roots, seeds, and even culti- 

 vated rice. 



Behavior.— Th^ flight of the willet is said to be swift, but it has 

 always seemed to me to be rather slow and heavy, when compared 

 with the flight of other shore birds, though perhaps it results in 

 better speed than it appears to do. The willet is a heavy-bodied 

 bird and its flight is strong, direct, and protracted; it seems to fly 

 more like a duck than the other shore birds. Occasionally it sets 



