Stone Curlew 115 



species is to examine a series of specimens obtained at different 

 seasons of the year, and to tabulate tiie contents of their gullet, 

 crop or stomach. 



It has always been our endea\-our to protect these birds in ev^ery 

 possible wa}- ; they are never shot intentionally, either b}- ourselves 

 or by our guests, and, in consequence, only six birds have passed 

 through my liands in the last 30 years. This number is quite 

 insuthcient to draw any definite conclusions from. 



The Stone Curlew is principally a night feeder, and as insects 

 (large coleoptera, etc.) form their staple diet, those captured are 

 mostly such as move about by night. Slugs the}- are certainly very 

 fond of ; these and the earth ivorms are plentiful in the root fields, 

 and are, I imagine, the chief inducement to the birds to visit these 

 places. Finall\-, they undoubtedl}- go down in some cases to feed 

 on " the mud " at night. Here one would suppose their food to be 

 much the same as that of the ordinary wading bird — crustaceans, 

 snails, small red worms, and so forth. Books state that they devour 

 small mammals, especially field mice, and also reptiles. A bird 

 trapped on the Thetford ^^'arren ejected a frog. 



One thing is certain : they are perfectly harmless to game, and 

 I have never heard the most vindictive keeper or preserver frame an}' 

 indictment against them on this score. 



I must make one exception to this statement, as the evidence 

 seems to be reliable. G. S. O., in a letter, July ist, 1911, writes :— 

 " The following report from John Staff ma}' or may not be 

 ' considered of value by }'ou. He has been suffering from the loss 

 ' of coop Pheasant chicks, which at first he thought was caused by 

 ' a sitting wild Pheasant. While watching with his brother, George 

 ' Staff, he saw a Norfolk Plover descend in a corner by the ' Rickin 

 ' Pits,' run through the undergrowth, weeds, etc., and kill a yoimg 

 ' Pheasant. The bird was but 15 yards from him. He hurried to 

 ' get his gun, lea\'ing his brother still watching. As he returned, 

 ' he saw the bird fly away out of range with a small Pheasant in its 

 ' bill. He was very much astonished ; but, like his brother, is 

 ' positive the bird was a Norfolk Plover, or ' Thick-knee.' " 



The exact date and time of day were not given. John Staff 

 is a good observer, and ver}' familiar with Qi. crepitans. 



Finally, I should like to say a word about the position of this 

 bird in East Anglia at the present day. Lubbock, writing in the late 

 sixties says : "In my vicinity " (Attleburgh, Norfolk) " the great 

 Plover is following the Bustard. Twenty years back I could hear 

 them every summer evening from my parlour when the window- 

 was open. I have only seen one in the parish for the last four 

 years." 



Stevenson, writing in 1870, speaks of the stead\- decrease of 

 this bird on the eastern side of the county of Norfolk ; on the 

 western boundary — always the headquarters of the Stone Curlew — 

 he finds that they still remained in large though diminished numbers. 



