THE WILLET. 453 



This large and handsome species is easily recognized, and is abundant on both 

 '.he Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Republic. There is very considerable differ- 

 ence of color between the adult and young birds ; but the white space on the wings 

 is a character always present and easily distinguished. It is the largest bird of this 

 group inhabiting the United States. 



Hah. — Entire temperate regions of North America ; South America. » 



This bird is not very abundant on the shores of New 

 England as a summer visitor and resident ; but it is taken 

 in considerable numbers in the autumn. It occasionally 

 breeds within our limits, usually preferring a sandy island 

 to the main shore ; but it sometimes selects a locality in a 

 marsh for its nest, and has been known to breed in a rye- 

 field twenty-miles from the seashore. 



The nest is built about the last week in May. It is 

 placed in a slight hollow in the sand or in a tussock of 

 grass, and is composed of grasses and weeds, arranged in a 

 heap, sometimes three or four inches in depth. It is hol- 

 lowed an inch and a half or more, and is sometimes lined 

 with softer pieces of grass or weeds. The eggs are four in 

 number: they are pyriform in shape, and are abruptly 

 pointed from the larger end. They are of a pale-olive color, 

 sometimes greenish-drab ; and are marked with blotches of 

 two or three shades of brown, which are confluent at the 

 larger end, and sometimes almost entirely hide the ground- 

 color. 



They vary in dimensions from 2.15 by 1.58 inch to 1.98 

 by 1.45 inch. When its breeding-place is approached, the 

 Willet flies to meet the intruder, and, coursing around over 

 his head, utters its shrill cries, like the syllables, 'pill-willet- 

 'tit pill willet, vociferously ; and sometimes darting down at 

 him, or alighting before him, it endeavors to lead him from 

 its nest by pretending lameness. 



When the young are able to fly, the whole brood associate 

 with the parents in a flock, and frequent the pools and 

 ditches near the beach, where they busily wade about in the 

 water, searching for small shell-fish, aquatic insects, mol- 

 lusks, &c, on which they feed. When wounded, they take 



