226 CEDICNEMID^. 



longitudinally as far forward as the horny portion, open in front, pervious. 

 Legs long, slender ; three toes only, directed forwards, united by a membrane 

 as far as the second articulation. Wings moderate ; second quill-feather the 

 longest in the wing. Tail graduated. 



The Stone-Curlew, Thicknee, or Norfolk Plover, 

 names referring to qualities or habits in this species, is a 

 summer visitor to this country, arriving here in April, and 

 leaving again at the end of September or in October, and, 

 like other summer visitors, coming to us from the south. 

 It is essentiallj^ a lover of dry and uncultivated lands during 

 the breeding-season, and although it occurs as a straggler 

 on migration in a good many counties of England, a glance 

 at a geological map will shew that its general distribution 

 in this country coincides broadly with that of the cretaceous 

 formation, the chalk downs being especially suited to its 

 habits. In Cornwall, according to the late E. H. Rodd, the 

 Stone-Curlew is only a winter visitant, and it would appear 

 that, from the mildness of the climate, that south-western 

 county forms the northern boundary of the winter quarters 

 of the species. The same probably holds good of Devonshire, 

 where Montagu records an occurrence so early as February 

 in the year 1807 ; and also of Somersetshire, where it is 

 very rare. On entering upon the chalk downs of Dorsetshire 

 it is to be found breeding regularly ; also, subject to the 

 hostile influences of enclosure and cultivation, in Wiltshire ; 

 Hampshire (visiting the Isle of Wight on passage and in 

 winter) ; Sussex ; Kent, especially on the hills above Rom- 

 ney Marsh ; Berkshire, Oxford and Bucks, straggling into 

 Middlesex ; Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, notably on the 

 chalk hills about Tring ; and so on, through Cambridgeshire, 

 to Suffolk and Norfolk, where it finds the conditions more 

 congenial than anywhere else in these islands. On either 

 side of these main lines the Stone-Curlew appears to be a 

 straggler ; but it is found breeding in small numbers in 

 Rutland and Nottingham, and the late E. Blyth obtained its 

 young in Worcestershire. It is still found on the Wolds of 

 Lincolnshire, and across the Humber it continues to breed, 

 although in decreasing numbers, in a few localities in- the 



