XORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 147 



situated in trees and is not known ever to nest on the ground. The nests usually oc- 

 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 1.52x1.12. 



258. WILLET. Symphemia semipalmata (Gmel.) Geog. Dist. Eastern tem- 

 perate North America, south to the West Indies and Brazil. Breeds from Florida to 

 New Jersey and locally, and rarely to Maine. Accidental in Bermuda and Europe. 



The Willet is the largest of the American family Scolopacidae, except 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 concealing 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 ground, 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 discover. Crows feed on 

 them and the empty shells are strewn plentifully 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 tussock 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 

 or 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 

 markings of subdued purple. The eggs are very large for the size of the bird, rang- 

 ing from 1.98 to 2.12 in length by 1.46 to 1.58 broad. Four eggs measure 1.95x1.50, 

 1.98x1.49, 2.05x1.53, 2.04x1.53. 



258a. WESTERN WILLET. Symphemia semipalmata inornata Brewst. Geog. 

 Dist. Western North America, east to Mississippi Valley and Gulf States; in winter, 

 south to Mexico, and, during migrations, sparingly along coast of southern Atlantic 

 States. Breeds from coast of Texas to Manitoba. 



Mr. Brewster first described this race in The Auk, Vol. IV, April, 1887, pp. 145- 

 146. It is somewhat larger and grayer than the eastern species, and according to 

 Elliot the two forms in winter cannot be distinguished from each other, save pos- 

 sibly by the longer bill of the present species, though this is not always reliable. 

 The present variety is very common in the western part of the United States and 

 in Texas. The nesting habits and eggs are identical with those of S. semipalmata; 

 the eggs, however, averaging a trifle larger. 



259. WANDERING TATTLER. Heteractititis incanus (Gmel.) Geog. Dist. 

 Pacific coast of America, from Norton Sound, Alaska, to Galapagos, and west to 

 Kamtchatka and the Hawaiian Islands: also more eastern groups of Polynesia. 



