﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  329 
  

  

  Similar 
  but 
  tinged 
  with 
  buff}' 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  and 
  sides 
  ; 
  legs 
  bluish 
  ; 
  bill 
  blackish, 
  

   rather 
  bluish 
  at 
  the 
  base. 
  

  

  Length 
  15-17 
  inches; 
  extent 
  28; 
  wing 
  7.5-8.25; 
  tail 
  3; 
  tarsus 
  1.95-2.6; 
  

   middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  i. 
  65-1. 
  7; 
  bill 
  2-2.5. 
  

  

  The 
  Willet 
  inhabits 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  States 
  from 
  Florida 
  to 
  southern 
  New 
  

   Jersey, 
  and 
  rarely 
  to 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Maine. 
  Its 
  winter 
  home 
  is 
  from 
  the 
  Southern 
  

   States 
  to 
  Brazil. 
  Formerly 
  it 
  may 
  have 
  bred 
  on 
  Long 
  Island, 
  but 
  Giraud 
  

   knew 
  of 
  no 
  nest 
  having 
  been 
  found, 
  nor 
  have 
  any 
  since 
  been 
  recorded. 
  

   It 
  hardh' 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  willets 
  which 
  appear 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  

   during 
  July, 
  August 
  and 
  September 
  are 
  migrants 
  from 
  more 
  northern 
  

   breeding 
  grounds, 
  and 
  the 
  species 
  undoubtedly 
  journeys 
  up 
  the 
  coast 
  in 
  

   search 
  of 
  fresh 
  feeding 
  grounds 
  after 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  is 
  over. 
  These 
  

   flights 
  of 
  willets, 
  however, 
  are 
  comparatively 
  rare 
  in 
  recent 
  years. 
  In 
  Mr 
  

   Butcher's 
  Long 
  Island 
  Notes, 
  I 
  find 
  records 
  of 
  numerous 
  flocks 
  observed 
  

   during 
  the 
  first 
  two 
  weeks 
  in 
  August 
  1884, 
  1885, 
  1886 
  and 
  1888. 
  A 
  few 
  

   are 
  sometimes 
  observed 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  July 
  4th 
  or 
  nth, 
  but 
  the 
  flight 
  rarely 
  

   begins 
  before 
  July 
  25th; 
  the 
  last 
  birds 
  are 
  usually 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  17th 
  to 
  

   the 
  25th 
  of 
  August, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  September 
  i6th. 
  There 
  are 
  

   few 
  spring 
  records 
  in 
  recent 
  years, 
  May 
  11, 
  1886; 
  May 
  6, 
  1887; 
  and 
  April 
  

   29, 
  1890, 
  being 
  all 
  that 
  I 
  find 
  in 
  Mr 
  Butcher's 
  Notes. 
  In 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  

   New 
  York 
  this 
  species 
  was 
  formerly 
  a 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  regular 
  visitant 
  [see 
  

   Birds 
  Cen. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  p. 
  33]. 
  The 
  following 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  records 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  

   since 
  1880: 
  

  

  Canandaigua, 
  N. 
  Y. 
  Aug. 
  31, 
  1882. 
  Dr 
  M. 
  S. 
  Gooding 
  

   Lake 
  Ontario, 
  N. 
  Y. 
  Sept. 
  12, 
  1885. 
  David 
  Bruce 
  

   Chautauqua 
  lake, 
  N. 
  Y. 
  May 
  10, 
  1897. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Kibbie 
  

   Erie, 
  Pa. 
  Apr. 
  24, 
  1902. 
  (2). 
  Todd, 
  Birds 
  of 
  Erie, 
  p. 
  542 
  

  

  The 
  Willet, 
  or 
  Semipalmated 
  tattler, 
  can 
  scarcely 
  be 
  mistaken 
  for 
  any 
  

   of 
  our 
  other 
  shore 
  birds, 
  its 
  remarkable 
  wing 
  pattern 
  and 
  its 
  loud 
  whistle 
  

   of 
  pilly 
  -will 
  -willet 
  establishing 
  its 
  identity 
  beyond 
  question 
  at 
  a 
  great 
  

   distance. 
  It 
  was 
  formerly 
  much 
  sought 
  by 
  Long 
  Island 
  gunners, 
  but 
  

   Giraud 
  remarked 
  that 
  its 
  flesh 
  though 
  palatable 
  was 
  not 
  considered 
  so 
  

   great 
  a 
  delicacy 
  as 
  its 
  eggs. 
  

  

  