Considerable interest attaches to the willet, both on account of its large size 

 and general distribution, and from the fact that its breeding range includes the 

 Southern and Middle States. The effect, therefore, of civilization may be easily 

 noticed in the case of this bird ; and that effect, as we might expect, has been 

 disastrous. There are no recent notes of its appearance in Ohio, and it is proba- 

 bly upon the vanishing point here and hereabouts. 



The willet is described as an excessively noisy bird, filling the air with its 

 shrill cries of ''pill-zvill-wlUit, zvill-ivilUf , pill-will-'ivillit" at all hours of the day 

 and often at night. Except during the breeding season it is quite wary, and diffi- 

 cult to approach even by stealth. While nesting, however, it becomes silent and 

 nearly impassive, except when its nest or young are immediately threatened, in 

 which case it throws reserve to the wind and summons its neighbors to join with 

 it in the boldest denunciation of the intruder. 



Altho formerly quite generally distributed in the interior, it is now more 

 abundant coastwise, and enjoys some measure of protection in a few favored 

 spots along the Atlantic coast, notably at Cobb's Island, Virginia. 



Martyrs of the Woods 



By George Klingle 



Would we miss them, you and I, 

 Would we care if soon should die 

 Every single singing bird 

 You and I have ever heard ? 

 Would we miss them from the grass, 

 Through the tangled, deep morass ; 

 From the bushes and the trees — 

 Robin, wren and chickadees — 

 Birds of blue and crimson wing; 

 Would we miss the notes they sing; 

 Would we miss the call and cry ; 

 Chattering talk as we go by ; 

 Nests amid the reeds and grass, 

 Nests swung high above the pass? 

 Do we care that birds must die. 

 Slaughtered daily as they fly? 

 Men will kill while people choose 

 Wings of birds to buy and use ; 

 Soon the woods must quiet be; 

 Scarce a bird for minstrelsy. 



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