Shore-bird Shooting 423 



salt marshes, sometimes built up to a height of a 

 few inches. The eggs are always four in number. 

 Incubation is begun late in May. The flesh of 

 the willet has never been esteemed, but the 

 eggs were regularly robbed by the natives, who 

 considered them a delicacy. This destruction of 

 the eggs in the old breeding localities undoubtedly 

 goes far to explain the present scarcity of the bird. 

 One of the gunners at Cobb's Island told me it 

 was no uncommon thing in years gone by to fill a 

 small basket with willet 's eggs. Crows occasionally 

 invade the nesting territory, causing consternation 

 and excitement, the birds all combining to drive 

 off the intruders. The young are cared for with 

 the greatest devotion ; few parents are more 

 persistent in their attention. Late in July, full 

 fledged, we see them sometimes in small flocks, 

 or with gulls and other smaller birds, often alone. 

 They feed on various aquatic insects and little 

 shellfish and crabs. The young birds are not 

 particularly wild, and, if by themselves, can fre- 

 quently be coaxed within range by imitation of 

 the note, a shrill pill-zuill-willet. It is rather 

 exceptional for decoys to attract them, although at 

 times they fly overhead. The plumage of the birds 

 in the first year is a soft gray and white, having 

 the same peculiar black and white wing markings 

 as the adult. A few years ago numbers of young 

 willet were shot regularly off Cape Cod in early 



