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Humility is a bird from the folklore of North America.
A willet, another species sometimes called 'Humility' by locals.
Description[]
It was reported in Reverend Samuel Peter’s General History of Connecticut in 1781. His description is as follows:
"The humility is so called because it speaks the word humility, and seldom mounts high in the air. Its legs are long enough to enable it to outrun a dog for a little way; its wings long and narrow; body maigre and of the size of a blackbird’s; plumage variegated with white, black, blue, and red. It lives on tadpoles, spawn, and worms; has an eye more piercing than the falcon, and the swiftness of an eagle; hence it can never be shot, for it sees the sparks of fire even before it enkindles the powder, and by the extreme rapidity of its flight gets out of reach in an instant. It is never known to light upon a tree, but is always seen upon the ground or wing."[1]
Based on the remaining subject matter of the account, which suggests that though hard to shoot it is caught using snares, this is very likely a real and well-known gamebird under a localized name. Possible candidates may be a species of sandpiper, plover, or species of rail such as the black rail, which has a call that sounds like the word, and is famously difficult to catch.
"Humility" is also a folk-name for several real species of similar birds throughout North America. In these instances, the word refers to the bowing motion they perform while walking.
Sources:[]
Peters, Samuel, 1735-1826, and Samuel Jarvis McCormick. General History of Connecticut: From Its First Settlement Under George Fenwick to Its Latest Period of Amity With Great Britain Prior to the Revolution.... New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1877.