THE WILLET. 527 



white patch in the extended wing; the throat, a band over the 

 eye, the breast and sides and tail-coverts, are white, the sides 

 and tail-coverts having bars or undulating lines of dusky; 

 the tail, having the central feathers a little Ipnger, is gray, 

 becoming white on the sides, and spotted with brown or 

 dusky. In the winter the upper parts are more or less 

 marked with yellowish-white, and the under parts are finely 

 barred with brown; the axillaries also are brown. A 

 characteristic feature of this species is its semipalmated 

 toes, enabling it to swim quite well when it has occasion to 

 take to the water. Indeed, it seems much more fond of the 

 water than most shore-birds, frequently wading up to its 

 belly, or taking a plunge-bath as it stands in the water. 

 Writers of the best authority attest to its alighting on the 

 branches of trees. Large and robust, it appears to the very 

 best advantage in its flight, which is firm and rapid. Ordi- 

 narily it is a very noisy bird, its pill-will-willit, will-willit,pill- 

 will-willit, being frequent and loud, both on the ground and 

 on the wing. In the breeding time, however, it becomes 

 rather silent, unless disturbed; then the neighbors join in 

 angry vociferations, as they circle over the head of the in- 

 truder. The bird has also a soft and rather mournful note 

 while standing on the ground. 



The Willet does not belong to those birds which make 

 their nests on the open beach by simply scooping out a 

 little hollow in the sand. It seeks the shelter of the marshes, 

 building quite a bulky nest in some tussock of grass; the 

 nest being raised, sometimes, as much as five or six inches, 

 and composed of dried rushes and grasses. As it is pretty 

 well rimmed up, the four pyriform eggs, lying with their 

 points together, seem almost to stand on the points, pre- 

 senting their larger ends to the body of the bird. The 

 eggs, about 2.00X1.50, are brownish or greenish drab, gen- 



