diff --git a/tornado/websocket.py b/tornado/websocket.py
index fac75007..b760fef6 100644
--- a/tornado/websocket.py
+++ b/tornado/websocket.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class WebSocketHandler(tornado.web.RequestHandler):
     Web Sockets are not standard HTTP connections. The "handshake" is HTTP,
     but after the handshake, the protocol is message-based. Consequently,
     most of the Tornado HTTP facilities are not available in handlers of this
-    type. The only communication methods available to you are send_message()
+    type. The only communication methods available to you are write_message()
     and close(). Likewise, your request handler class should
     implement open() method rather than get() or post().