TOTANUS SEMIPALMATUS, WILLET. 495 



Catopfrophorus seniipalmatiis, Bp., List, 1838, SI.^Blas., List B. Eur. 18G'2, 18 (Sweden). 



Gtoltis seinipalmuta, Nilsson, Fn. Siiec. 1817. 



Hodiles semipalmata, Kai.'p, Sk. Ent. Eur. 1829. 



SijinpkemiasimiiiMlma1a,'RAKn.., R. Z. 184,'i, .342.— Bd., B. N. A. 18.58, 729.— Buy., Pr. 

 Bust. Soc. vii, 1859 (Bahamas).— Cais., J. f. O. iv, 351 (Cuba).— Sci.., P. Z. S. 

 1860, 253 (Orizaba).— Cass., Pr. Pbila. Acad. IHfiO, 195 (Cartbagena).— Coop. & 

 Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 240.— Wheat., Obio Agric. Rep. 186U, No. 214.— 

 CouBS & PnENT., Smiths. Rep. 1861, 416.— Boakdm., Pr. Host. Soc. ix, 18(i2, 129 

 (Maine, breeds). — Cooes, iftW. xii, 1868, 122 (South Carolina, resideut). — Vbhr., 

 Pr. Ess. Inst, iii, 1862, 159. — Allkn, ibid, iv, 1864, 77 (Massachusetts, perhaps 

 breeding). — CouES, ihid. v, 1868, 295 (New England, in summer) — Diiics.s., 

 Ibis, 1866, 37 (Texas).— Salv., Ibis, 1860, 178 (Guatemala).- Lawh., Ann. Lye. 

 N. Y. vii, 272 (Cuba); viii, 1866, 294; ix, 210 (Yucatan).- Tuknb., B. E. Pa. 

 1868, 31 (in summer).— Mayn., Guide, 1870, 141.— Allen., BuH.M. C. Z. ii, 1871, 

 356 (Florida, resident).— CoUES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 97 (.'irizona); 1871, 32 

 (North Carolina, breeding and resident). — Sxow, B. Kans. 1873, 10.— Merk.. U. 

 S. Geol. Surv. 'Per. 1872, 700 (Utah and Idaho).— RidgW., Anu. Lye. N. Y. x, 

 1874, 384 (Illinois). 



Totavus crassirosiris, Vieill., Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 1816, 406. 



Siimpheniia atlaiitica, Raeinesque, Journ. Phys. Ixxxviii, 1819,417. 



(?) Totanns speculifei-us, Cuv., R. A. i, 1817, 351.— PucH., E. and M. Z. iii, 1851, 569. 



Rab. — Temperate North America, north to 56", but chiefly United States. Breeds 

 throughout its United States range. • Resident in the Southern States. Common in 

 the interior, but more so along the coast. West Indies. Central and South America 

 (Pelz., Oru. Bras. 309). Accidental in .Europe (Gould, B. Eur. pi. 311). 



Lieutenant JI'mTeii's Exptdiiwn. — 5434, Medicine Creek; 8998, (no label). 



Latei- Expeditions.— b9H70, Colorado ; 61638-9, Salt Lake, Utah ; 62358, N. Fork, Idaho. 



Not obtained by Captain Raynolds' Expedition. 



The Willet is distributed across ISTorth America; but, unlike many of 

 its allies, its uorthern dispersion is restricted, and it breeds anywhere 

 ^n the United States in suitable resorts. 1 have found it wherever I 

 have been in the United States. There were a few on tiie Upper Rio 

 Grande when I crossed that river in June, 1864, and during the same 

 month I saw many more westward, in New Mexico, especially along the 

 Zuni River, where I am sure they were breeding. Some resided in a 

 marshy tract near Fort Whipple, in Arizona. Others occurred to me 

 in June and July in Eastern Dakota. On the North Carolina coast I 

 found the bird breeding in great numbers in the marshy flats just back 

 of the beach in May and June. 



The nest is placed near the water of some secluded pool, or in the 

 midst of a marsh, whether fresh or salt, in a tussock of grass or rushes. 

 It is a rnde structure, of the simplest materials, raised a little way from 

 the ground, and with a shallow indentation. The eggs are very vari- 

 able in all respects. As to size and shape, the following measurements 

 show the differences: 1.90 by 1.45; 1.95 by 1.50; 2.00 by 1.50; 2.05 by 

 1.55; 2.12 by 1.50; averaging about 2,00 by 1.50. They are less point- 

 edly pyriform than the eggs of the smaller Tattlers and Sandpipers. 

 The ground is sometimes brownish-olive, or drab, or clay-color ; some- 

 times, again, quite buff'v'brown ; in a few cases greenish or grayish- 

 white. The spotting is bold and distinct, but little massed even at the 

 greater end, where, though the spots are largest and most numerous, 

 they generally remain distinct. The spots are mostly clean-edged and 

 sharp, of moderate size, but sometimes quite fine and scratchy. They 

 are of various umber-brown shades, and accompanied with the usual 

 obsolete shell-markings. 



Under ordinary circumstances Willets are notoriously restless, wary, 

 and noisy birds; but their nature is changed, or, at any rate, held in 

 abeyance, during and for a short time after incubation. They cease 

 their cries, groT less uneasy, become gentle, if still suspicious, and may 

 generally be seen stalking quietly about the nest. When Willets are 

 found in that humor — absent-minded, as it were, absorbed in reflection 



