92 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



GENUS SYMPHEMIA RAFINESQUE. 

 Symphemia semipalmata (GMEL.). 



Willet, 



DESCBIPTION. 



Size large, bill long, thick and grooved to middle ; legs stout and long ; lower half 

 of tibiae bare ; toes short and stout with marginal membranes and basal webs con- 

 necting inner and outer with the middle toes ; tail feathers nearly even. This spe- 

 cies varies more or less with age and season. Three specimens, male and females, 

 (taken in August), before me have bluish black legs, blackish bills, the latter 2^ and 

 2f inches long. Upper parts brownish-gray, darkest on head and back, streaked 

 with dusky, and many of the feathers with whitish edges ; back of neck ashy-gray ; 

 foreneck, the sides and portion of breast grayish, with dusky streaks or spots ; chin 

 upper part of throat, breast, except on sides, belly and crissum white ; axillars, 

 lining of wings, primary coverts and ends of primaries black ; most of the upper 

 tail-coverts, most of the secondaries and a large space on primaries, white ; tail ashy- 

 white with fine dusky markings. Length about 16 inches ; extent about 28. 



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



Bare and irregular spring and fall migrant in eastern Pennsylvania, 

 and when observed here is, usually, seen late in August. Mr. Sennett, 

 and the Messrs. Thompson, of Erie city, have never known the Willet 

 to visit that locality ; and none of the naturalists and collectors, whose 

 reports are before me, have observed this species in any of the central, 

 northern or western counties of the state. I have two specimens, one 

 taken in Delaware county (August, 1885), the other was killed by flying 

 against a telegraph wire along the Brandywine, in Chester county 

 (August, 1887). Dr. Detwiller, of Bethlehem, has secured specimens 

 (mostly " after severe fall equinoctial storms " about the Delaware and 

 Lehigh rivers. Mr. W. H. Buller, Lancaster county, says : " The Wil- 

 let has, occasionally, been killed on the gravel bars along the Susque- 

 hanna river ; the last one, to my knowledge, was captured in the autumn 

 of 1878." 



The Willet subsists, mainly, according to different writers, on worms, 

 various aquatic insects, small crabs, minute shell fish, small shells, etc. 



GENUS BARTRAMIA LESSON. 

 Bartramia longicauda (BECHST.). 



Bartramian Sandpiper ; Grass Plover ; Field Plover ; Upland Plover. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 68). 



Bill about as long as head and nearly straight ; upper mandible with long grooves 

 on sides in front of nostrils ; neck, legs and tail long ; lower part of tibiae naked ; 

 legs rather slender ; toes, especially the hind one, rather long and slender, outer toe 

 and middle joined by small basal web ; sexes alike ; no marked seasonal changes in 

 plumage. Upper parts mostly brownish-black, most of the feathers with tawny and 

 whitish edgings ; top of head and back darkest ; crown divided by a narrow buff 

 line ; lower part of back and rump plain brownish-black ; chin and upper throat 

 white ; neck and breast faint yellowish or whitish with numei-ous streaks and spots 

 of dusky ; lower part of breast, abdomen and crissum white ; axillars and lining of 

 wings, barred with black and white ; wing quills black and brown, with white bars 

 on inner webs : middle tail feathers darkest, others pale-buff with bars, spots or 



