NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 123 



cupied are those of pigeons, jays, shrikes and other birds, but most 

 commonly those of the Thrushes. These are said to be situated from 

 three to six feet and as high as thirty-five feet from the ground. The 

 eggs are four in number ; greenish-white or delicate grayish sea-green, 

 sparsely marked with spots, blotches, and markings of dark-brown, 

 chiefly at the larger end ; average size 1.52 x 1.12. 



258. Symphemia semipalmata (Gmel.) [552.] 



Willet. 



Hab. Temperate North America, south to Brazil and the West Indies. 



The Willet is the largest of the American family Scolopacidse, ex- 

 cept the genera Limosa and Numenius. One of the most extensively 

 distributed of all of our North American birds, being found in the 

 marshy regions of the interior ; along the Atlantic coast from Nova 

 Scotia to Florida ; throughout Central America and into a large portion 

 of South America. It is also abundant along the Pacific coast. Breeds 

 throughout its United States range and wherever found in Southern 

 districts. Nests commonly on Cobb's Island, Va., effectually conceal- 

 ing the eggs in the tall grass on the higher parts of the Island. The 

 marshes at this place are also favorite breeding localities, where the 

 nests are built up from the grouad, which is wet at high tide. At Long 

 Beach, N. J., it breeds rarely and is said to have been formerly one of 

 the most abundant breeding species. 



Mr. Perry writes that the Willet finds favorite breeding grounds in 

 the salt marshes of Georgia and South Carolina. He mentions a large 

 tract of 'salt grass ' in Beaufort Co., S. C, where it breeds in great 

 numbers. A hundred pairs or more are commonly observed breeding 

 in this locality and at the same time, the eggs are very difficult to dis- 

 cover. Crows feed upon them and the empty shells are strewn plenti- 

 fully over the field. The nest is a mere depression of the ground, 

 lined with a few pieces of dry grass. Sometimes it is placed in a tus- 

 sock of grass. Mr. Perry states that the eggs are deposited early in 

 May. Mr. Stuart reports the Willet as breeding abundantly along the 

 Gulf coast of Florida in May and June. The eggs are four in 

 number, and there seems to be two distinct types of coloration in the 

 ground color — either a greenish-white or a dark brownish-olive, 

 marked with bold spots of various shades of umber-brown and mark- 

 ings of subdued purple. The eggs are very large for the size of the 

 bird, ranging from 1.98 to 2.12 in length by 1.46 to 1.58 broad. Four 

 eggs measure 1.95x1.50, 1.98.x 1.49, 2.05x1.53, 2.04x1.53. 



