CURLEW 129 



its home in Alaska and Avinters in the islands of the Pacific. In this 

 bird the shaft of most of the feathers clothing its legs is produced 

 into a lona; a:listening bristle. 



2. The Curlew of inlanders, or Stone-Curlew — called also, by 

 some \\Titers, from its stronghold in this country, the Norfolk 

 Plover, and most wrongly and absurdly the 

 Thick-Knee or Thick- Kneed Bustard — is 

 usually classed among the Clmradriidai, \)\\t 

 it offers several remarkable differences from 

 the more normal Plovers. It is the Chara- 

 drius oedioiemus of Linnseus, the C. scolopax Stone-Curlew. 



of Sam. Gottl. Gmelin, and the (Edicnemus ^^ wamson.) 



crepitans of Temminck. With much the same cry as that of the 

 Kumenii, only uttered in a far sweeter tone, it is as fully en- 

 titled to the name of CurleAv as the bird most commonly so 

 called. In England it is almost solely a summer - visitor, 

 though an example will occasionally linger throughout a mild 

 winter ; and is one of the few birds whose distribution Avith 

 us is affected by geological formation, since it is nearly limited to 

 the chalk-country — the open spaces of which it haunts, and its 

 numbers have of late years been sensibly diminished by their 

 enclosure. The most barren spots in these districts, even Avhere 

 but a superficial coating of light sand and a thin growth of turf 

 scarcely hide the chalk below, supply its needs ; though at night 

 (and it chiefly feeds by night) it resorts to moister and more fertile 

 places. Its food consists of snails, coleopterous insects, and earth- 

 Avorms, but larger prey, as a mouse or a frog, is not rejected. 

 Without making the slightest attempt at a nest, it lays its tAv^o 

 eggs on a level spot, a bare falloAV being often chosen. These are 

 not very large, and in colour so closely resemble the sandy, flint- 

 strewn surface that their detection except by a practised eye is 

 difficult. The bird, too, trusts much to its OAvn drab colouring to 

 elude observation, and, on being disturbed, Avill frequently run for 

 a considerable distance and then squat Avith outstretched neck so 

 as to become almost invisible. In such a case it may be closely 

 approached, and its large golden eye, if it do not pass for a tuft of 

 yelloAv lichen, is perhaps the first thing that strikes the searcher. 

 As autumn advances the Stone-CurleAv gathers in large flocks, and 

 then is as wary as its namesake. ToAvards October these take their 

 departure, and their survivors return, often with wonderful con- 

 stancy, to their beloved haunts (see Migration). In size this species 

 exceeds any other European Plover, and looks even still larger than 

 it is. The bill is short, blunt, and stout ; the head large, broad, 

 and flat at the top. The wings and legs long — the latter present- 

 ing a singular enlargement of the' tibio-tarsal joint, whence the 

 name (Edicnemus has been conferred. The toes are short and fleshy, 



