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THE SEMIPALMATED SNIPE, OR WILLET.
TOTANUS SEMIPALMA TUS, TEMM.
PLATE CCLXXIV. MALE AND FEMALE.
MANY individuals of this fine species spend the winter in our Southern
States, and the extent of its migration northwards is comparatively limited.
Some are occasionally seen as far eastward as the neighbourhood of
Boston, and a few have been known to breed not far from New Bedford in
Massachusetts ; but beyond that state the species may be said to be unknown.
Their propensity to remain at all seasons in the immediate vicinity
of the coast is such, that they are very seldom met with far inland,
even along large rivers, on the margins of which they might find the food
they usually prefer. I once shot one in autumn on the lower part of the
Ohio, but it was much emaciated, and I concluded that its appearance
there was merely accidental. From the mouth of the Mississippi to New
York it is pretty generally found during the breeding season; but all the
individuals betake themselves in winter to the shores of Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, and the countries bordering the Mexican Gulf. I have very
little doubt that those seen by Mr SAY on the banks of the Missouri had
accidentally visited that country, as the favourite haunts of this species at
all seasons are the salt-marshes and sea-shores. It is well ascertained that
it occurs on the western coast, and I have seen many skins of it recently
brought from the mouth of the Columbia River. It is probablv from
thence that it migrates to the shores of the Saskatchewan, where it was
observed by Dr RICHARDSON along the small saline lakes.
In the Middle States, the Semipalmated Snipe is known to every fisherman
gunner by the name of " W i l l e t a n d from the Carolinas southward
by that of " Stone Curlew."" In the latter districts, during autumn
and winter, it resorts to the stony shores of estuaries, the banks of racoon
oysters, and the extensive salt-marshes so common there along the coast.
On the 1st of May 1832, while rambling over some large and partially
submersed islets of the Floridas called Duck Keys, scantily covered with
bushes and some mangroves, I saw a good number of these birds in company
with the Great Marbled Godwit. The Willets were all paired
and very clamorous, although we found none of their nests. To my grea
SEMIPALMATED SNIPE. 5 11
surprise, I saw them alight on the bushes and trees with as much ease as
if they had been land birds, stand erect, open their wings to the sun, and
await our approach, exhibiting, when thus perched, much less shyness
than when on the ground. Until then I had never observed such a habit
in this bird, and indeed had felt surprised at seeing the Bartram Snipe,
Totanus Bartramius, alight on fences and trees. Nothing of this kind is
mentioned by WILSON, who, however, speaks of both species as if he were
well acquainted with their habits. A few days after my visit to the Duck
Keys, some nests containing eggs were found on other islets not far distant.
Along the shores of the Carolinas, this species begins to lay about the
beginning of April; but in the Middle States, in New Jersey, for example,
it seldom makes its appearance before the 15th of April, and does not begin
to breed until a month later. At the approach of the love season,
the Willets shew a great degree of vivacity, ramble much on wing, and
fill the air with their sharp cries. Once mated, they attend to the security
of their eggs and brood with affectionate care, and are silent until disturbed
by the approach of some of their numerous enemies. The sight
of a Crow, a Turkey Buzzard, a quadruped of any kind, and more especially
of a gunner, at once excites the greatest alarm; and, rising on wing,
they fly above and around you at a considerable distance, vociferating
their anger with great vehemence, and continually endeavouring to allure
you away from the spot where their treasure is concealed. Should they
have young broods, they not unfrequently alight within sight, emit clicking
and querulous notes, raise their wings upright, and run over the
ground as if wounded, moving in so pitiable a manner as frequently to
excite a good feeling towards them in the gunner, who, should he be a
parent himself, is almost sure to leave them unmolested. When much
pursued, the birds join and form a flock, the individuals of which continue
to wheel through the air, at some distance from their nests, until
their enemy has departed.
The Semipalmated Snipe is at all times a shy and wary bird, so that
in approaching it the sportsman requires to use the greatest caution. The
method which I found most effectual was to employ a well-trained dog,
and conceal myself among the rankest herbage of the marshes. The
Willets rarely failed to fly close over the dog, and as he now and then,
playfully, as it were, approached me, the birds came within shooting distance.
On such occasions, if one is brought down, another may follow,