176 FEATHERED GAME 



THE WILLET. 



(Symphemia semipalmata.) 



This bird seems to be closely related to the 

 ''yellow-legs" and is somewhat like it in its 

 coloration, but is considerably heavier in figure 

 and of greater size, having also a stouter and 

 heavier bill. The Willet does not go so far 

 north as does his cousin of the yellow stockings 

 and throughout North America is more south- 

 ern in his range, few of these birds breeding 

 much beyond the northern boundaries of the 

 United States. They pass the winter months 

 in South America and along the shores of the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



The Willet is colored thus : above, ashy gray, 

 mottled with black. Rump dusky; tail coverts 

 mainly white. Tail grayish white, faintly 

 black-barred, with the outer feathers nearly 

 white. Below, white with blackish arrowheads 

 as in the ''yellowshanks." Axillars, edges and 

 linings of the wings blackish. Primaries nearly 

 black with the white bases of the feathers half 

 hidden by the coverts. Some of the secondaries 

 also white, thus making a considerable area 



