895. The Willet [Symphemia semipalmata ] Breeding in Delaware 
Bay. By Chas. E. Bellows, Ph.G. Ibid., June 5, p. 364. StToaXEL XXII 
Symphemia semipalmata. Willet. — Rather common. Found breed- 
ing late in May and early in June on the salt marshes adjacent to the main , VII, Oot, 
island. Last year I found two sets of four eggs each, among a colony 0 * 1390 ,]?, 3^8 
Laughing Gulls on Gull Island. They are not as numerous as they were 
formerly. 3 erven Mile Beach, N,J. C. S.Shick. 
Birds ?o and Breeding on Cobb’s Is- 
land, Va. May 25-29, H. B. Bailey 
Tolanus semipalmatus, Temm. Willet. Breeds in large numbers on 
the island, and are not molested while nesting, as they are left for 
the fall shooting, and this is the only species that can enjoy the privi- 
lege of breeding in peace, the eggs of all the others are subjected to 
all the mysteries of the cuisine. Their usual nesting place is on the 
higher parts of the island, among the grass, where they conceal 
their nests so effectually that it is only by flushing the female directly 
from the eggs that the nests can be discovered. In this situation 
they are very slight structures, being depressions in clumps of 
grass, lined with finer grasses. The marshes are also favorite local- 
ities for breeding, and in this case the nests are more elaborate, being 
built up from the ground, which is wet at high tide. The eggs were 
in all cases four, very slightly incubated. 
oull. N.O.O. I, April, 1876. p.2Q 
On a Collection of Efggs from 
Georgia, H. B. Bailey, 
Symphemia semipalmata. Willet. - Nests in grass near the 
sea; eggs four. May i- 
Bull. N.O.Q* 8, Jan, 1883, p,42 
Seven Eggs of the Willet Laid in One 
Nest. 
BY J. P. N. 
On May 9th, 1887, seven eggs of the Willet 
( Symphemia semipalmata) were found in one 
nest in Northampton County, Virginia. In all 
probability they were laid by two birds, as four 
eggs is the almost invariable number for this 
species. 
The same collector informs me that he has 
found five and six eggs in a single nest, but 
never before seven. Is not this the largest 
“ aet” of this species on record? 
0 .^0. XIII. Dec. 1888 p.I89 
