STONE CURLEW. 251 



Family CEDICNEMID.E. Genus GEdicnemus. 



STONE CURLEW. 



OiDiCNEMUs CREPITANS, Teiiiminck. 

 Single Brooded, Laying season, May and June. 



British breeding area: The Stone Curlew is 

 another local species confined during the breeding season 

 to the eastern and southern counties of England, as far 

 north as Yorkshire, and as far west as Dorset. It breeds 

 on the heaths and wolds of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, 

 Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, southwards 

 through Beds, Herts, Bucks, Oxfordshire, Berks, Wilts, 

 Dorset, Hants, Sussex, and Kent. Exceptionally it has 

 been known to nest in Worcestershire, Rutland, and 

 Notts. 



Breeding habits : The Stone Curlew is a summer 

 migrant to our islands, but a few individuals remain to 

 winter in the extreme south-west of England, in 

 Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. It usually arrives in 

 England in April. The breeding-haunts of this species 

 are heaths, downs, sandy commons, and warrens — bare, 

 treeless districts. It is probable that the Stone Curlew 

 pairs for life, inasmuch that the bird returns annually to 

 favourite haunts, and continues to nest in them season 

 after season. It is not gregarious, although several pairs 

 may frequently be observed nesting within a small area. 

 The nest is invariably on the ground, and consists of a 

 mere hollow scraped out on some bare spot amongst the 

 heather or other vegetation, often on ground strewn with 

 pebbles. No lining appears ever to be inserted in this 

 country, although in India a little dry grass is sometimes 

 used. The bird sits very lightly, running or flying off 

 its eggs at the least alarm, and leaving them to the safety 

 their protective tints ensure. 



