234 



SCOLOPACID/E : SNIPE, ETC. 



The nest is placed near the water of some secluded 

 pool, or in the midst of a marsh, whether fresh or salt, 

 in a tussock of grass or rushes. It is a rude structure, 

 of the simplest materials, raised a little way from the 

 ground, and with a shallow indentation. The eggs are 

 very variable in all respects. As to size and shape, the 

 following measurements show the differences : 1.90 X 

 1.45 ; 1.95 X 1.50 ; 2.00 X 1.50; 2.05 X 1.55 ; 2.12 x 

 1.50; averaging about 2.00 X 1.50. They are less 

 pointedly pyriform than the eggs of the smaller Tattlers 



Fig. 53.— Head of Wili.et. Natural size. 



and Sandpipers. The ground is sometimes' brov/nish- 

 olive, or drab, or clay-color; sometimes, again, quite 

 buffy-brown ; in a few cases greenish or grayish-white. 

 The spotting is bold and distinct, but little massed even 

 at the greater end, where, though the spots are largest 

 and most numerous, they generally remain distinct. 

 The spots are mostly clean-edged and sharp, of mod- 

 erate size, but sometimes quite fine and scratchy. 

 They are of various umber-brown shades, and accom- 

 panied with the usual obsolete shell-markings. 



Under ordinary circumstances Willets are notoriously 

 restless, wary, and noisy birds ; but their nature is 



