Various - Birds and Nature, Vol. VIII, No. 4, November 1900

The Western Willet is one of the largest of the Limicolae or Shore Birds. The body is about the size of a common pigeon, the long neck, legs and extent of wings making it appear much larger. The feet are only about one-half webbed and only when great danger makes it necessary will it go into the water beyond its depth. The bill is straight and in summer the color of the bird is gray above, with many small but rather distinct black marks. On the sides and breast these marks are arrow-shaped. In the plumage of winter and of the young these markings are absent.

I am inclined to believe that this species has a more extended range than any other of the order. It has become quite abundant of late years in the Calumet Region in Northern Indiana, near Chicago. Mr. E. W. Nelson, in the Natural History Survey of Illinois, says, that in the seventies this species was a rare summer resident on the wet prairies of Northwestern Illinois, although I can find no authentic record of the taking of the nest and eggs. Captain Charles Bendire found it abundant and resident in Southeastern Oregon when he procured several sets of its eggs. It is said to breed from the coast of Texas to Manitoba. Straggling flocks of from five to fifty may be found along the shores of our larger fresh water lakes, particularly Lake Michigan, during the fall migration, which takes place from about the fifteenth of August to the last of September.

This bird might well be called the clown of the Limicolae. I have often been amused by the antics of a flock of Willets on the shore of Lake Michigan. They would droop their necks and wings in an absurd fashion, taking short runs and jumps as the waves rolled in upon them. I have never seen a bird which at times could be so wary and hard to approach, and again, if a number are shot from a flock, the remaining birds will seem to lose their senses, and I have frequently walked within a few feet of the survivors before they would take flight. This trait is noticeable among a large number of shore birds and the terns, but more especially so with the Willet.

On the plains bordering the Brazos river, near the Gulf coast of Texas, during the months of April and May, I have found the Willet proper (Symphemia semipalmata), a smaller and darker form, breeding in abundance. The Willets usually select for a nesting site a thick tussock of salt marsh grass on the borders of a small pond, where they can command a good view of the vicinity. In the center of this they hollow out a space of about six or eight inches in diameter, and simply line it with the grass they have matted down. In this nest are laid four pyriform eggs of a greenish white, or a light olive brown ground color, marked with large, irregular blotches or brownish black and faint purple; the eggs are immense for the size of the bird, being about two inches in length by one and one-half in width.

The illustration faithfully portrays three birds taken at Miller's, Indiana, on the beach of Lake Michigan. The color of the legs, which are obscured by the shadow of the body, is a pale, slaty blue.

Though the Willets are restless and noisy birds, they are much less so, and, indeed, quite unconscious of their surroundings when nesting. Regarding their habits at this time, Dr. Coues has told us that if they "become thoroughly alarmed by too open approach, particularly if the setting bird be driven from her nest, there is a great outcry, violent protest and tumult where there was quietude. Other pairs, nesting near by, join their cries till the confusion becomes general. But now, again, their actions are not those they would show at other times; for, instead of flying off with the instinct of self-preservation, to put distance between them and danger, they are held by some fascination to the spot, and hover around, wheeling about, flying in circles a little ways, to return again, with unremitting clamor. They may be only too easily destroyed under such circumstances, provided the ornithologist can lay aside his scruples and steel himself against sympathy."

It is to be hoped that all the States, frequented by the Willets, will enact proper legislation which will amply protect these interesting waders.

All of my readers probably know in a general way that Dame Fashion is responsible for the destruction of the lives of many birds, but they may not know to what extent this is true.

Why do we say that any cruel treatment of the birds is chargeable to fashion? It can hardly be necessary to remind ourselves that there is in almost every boy's nature a touch of the savage instincts which find expression in the desire to kill something. Traces of this instinct do not entirely disappear with the development into manhood, but show themselves there in the love of hunting and fishing. Let these remnants of savagery be appealed to by the promise of gain and they are immediately fanned into flame in the natures of those persons who are naturally more strongly drawn to this primitive occupation of men. In short, place before the professional hunter an easy means of profiting by his skill as a hunter, and in far too many instances he will smother any humane instincts which he may have for the sake of the gain. It is the demands of fashion for plumes and feathers for hat trimmings which place before these hunters the temptation to kill. Have we not a right, therefore, to place the blame at the door of Fashion?

But what are the practices which we call cruel? In the first place it is cruelty to cause the destruction of life without good and sufficient reason. Unnecessary sacrifice of life is cruelty. Certainly no one will say that it is necessary to trim hats with feathers. Fashion decrees that feathers must be worn, and presto! feathers are worn. In the second place, it is cruel to kill birds who are feeding young ones in the nest, leaving them to starvation. Yet this is just what has happened and does happen every year. Plume hunters are no respecters of times and seasons. With them there are no closed seasons. The birds which they are after gather in large rookeries during the nesting season and are therefore much easier to capture then than at other times.