BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 311 



Louisiana to Massachusetts; many remain along the shore of 

 this State (New York) to breed, and loiter with us until 

 November (De Kay, 1844). Common migrant April to 

 October (TurnbuU, eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 

 1869). Not very abundant on shores of New England 

 as a summer visitor and resident; taken in considerable 

 numbers in autumn (Samuels, 1870). Sometimes breed 

 (J. A. Allen, Massachusetts, 1879). Known to nest in suitable 

 plains of interior and coast from Florida to Halifax, N. S. 

 (Brewer, 1884). One of the few species of the family which 

 regularly and plentifully summer in some portion of New Eng- 

 land (Stearns and Coues, 1888). Rare spring and autumn 

 migrant along the coast (Howe and Allen, Massachusetts, 

 1901). A few years ago bred commonly on coast of Virginia 

 and New Jersey (Sanford, Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903). A 

 mere straggler on Maine coast (Knight, 1908). Rare migrant, 

 mainly coastwise (G. M. Allen, New England, 1909). Flights 

 comparatively rare in recent years (Eaton, New York, 1910). 

 Only two of my Massachusetts correspondents report an in- 

 crease, while thirty-one note a decrease. 



There is a great migration of Willets in fall from northwest 

 to southeast, and formerly many of these birds reached the 

 coast of New England. Many wintered and some still winter 

 in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. Eaton gives the Willet 

 as a former winter visitant in the interior of New York. It 

 winters, however, as far south as southern Peru at least, and 

 reaches the Amazon on the Atlantic coast. It follows the 

 interior route in spring, but the following extract from a letter 

 received from Hon. George Bird Grinnell suggests that some 

 may take an outside route: "We often hear of the journey 

 of two thousand miles which some of the shore birds make 

 from the coast of Labrador or Nova Scotia south to the Lesser 

 Antilles, or even to South America, and two years ago (1907), 

 while coming back from France the end of May, I saw some- 

 thing that had a bearing on this matter, and which greatly 

 interested me. We were passing the Newfoundland Banks 

 one fine morning, when the sea was absolutely calm. We ran 

 into a great body of birds scattered over the water, apparently 



