THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 203 



to November 15. They are very fond of wild celery and 

 when feeding on this are considered an excellent bird for 

 the table. 



Willet. — Length, sixteen inches; extent, thirty- three 

 inches; bill, two and one seventh inches, black; head, neck 

 and back, pale gray brown, spotted with black; breast, 

 white, barred with dark brown; rump, grayish brown, 

 some of the feathers edged with gray ; sides, white, barred 

 with dark brown; tail, white, with brownish black bars; 

 wings, grayish brown, with white bar and tipped with 

 white; legs, blue; feet, blue, half -webbed. In winter the 

 birds are half gray above and the lower parts are pure 

 white. The female is a little larger than the male. 



The nest is a depression in the ground or sand, gener- 

 ally near the sea shore, and lined with rushes and coai'se 

 grasses. The eggs are generally four in number, greenish 

 white or brown, spotted with brown or purple, and two 

 by one and a half inches in size, very thick near the large 

 end. 



The birds breed throughout temperate North America 

 to New England and Nova Scotia and spend the winter in 

 the West Indies and South America. Formerly they 

 were very plentiful in New Jersey and bred all along the 

 sea coast; a few may still breed in Cape May county, but 

 they are generally seen during migrations, occurring be- 

 tween April 20 and May 15 and again between July 17 

 and September 15. 



Their cry is a sharp pill-will-willet. 



Their food is composed of shellfish, marine worms and 

 other aquatic insects. 



Wooilcoefe. — Length, male, ten and a half inches; ex- 

 tent, sixteen inches. Female, length, twelve inches; ex- 

 tent, eighteen inches. The bill is of a brownish . flesh 

 color, black towards the tip, the upper part ending in a 

 slight knob, and about two and a half inches in length; 



