STONE-CURLEW. 597 
Abyssinia ; but its numbers are largely increased during winter. It is 
also a resident in Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, Baluchistan, India, Ceylon, 
and Burma. It is a summer visitor to Russian Turkestan, and probably 
also to West Siberia south of lat. 48°, as Finsch records it from the steppes 
north of Lake Saisan *. 
Indian examples of the Stone-Curlew have been described as a distinct 
species on account of their alleged smaller size; but this statement does 
not appear to be supported by facts. Of the allied species which inhabit 
Africa, South America, and Australia, none can be confused with our 
bird, except Gidienemus inornatus, inhabiting South Nubia and Abyssinia, 
which is doubtfully distinct from it. It is said to differ in not having 
the upper bar across the wing; but this bar is not shown in the figure 
of the Stone-Curlew in Dresser’s ‘ Birds of Europe.’ 
The haunts of the Stone-Curlew are the lowland heaths, commons, large 
tracts of unenclosed country, sheep-walks, rabbit-warrens, and wolds. In 
this respect it very closely resembles the Bustards. It is fond of the bare 
districts where it can keep a good look-out, and thus be able to detect any 
danger, no matter from what point of the compass it may come. It loves 
the sandy wastes, and never frequents wooded districts. The Stone-Curlew 
is principally known as a summer visitor to this country, and arrives at 
its old haunts about the middle of April, leaving them again for the south 
in October, but, should the season be an open one, many linger still later. 
In spite of high farming and the enclosure of commons, the habits of 
the Stone-Curlew may still be studied during a day’s excursion from 
London in many localities. On Saturday morning the 21st of May, 1881, 
I left London for Ipswich, and, having met my friend Mr. Bidwell at— 
the station, we walked out beyond the race-course to a lake or pond 
called Bixley decoy, a distance of perhaps four miles. Our first care 
was to make for the cottage of the decoy keeper, so that under his 
auspices we might be free from the molestations of gamekeepers, and also 
to post ourselves up in the latest intelligence concerning the movements 
of the Stone-Curlews, whose breeding-habits it was the special object of 
our journey to investigate. 
We learned that these birds were by no means exterminated, and that, 
although the great heath where they had bred from time immemorial had 
been enormously encroached upon by recent enclosures, the Stone- 
Curlews still frequented what was left of it. During the last quarter of a 
century reclamation has advanced with rapid strides. There used to be 
* Neither Captain Legge, in his ‘ Birds of Ceylon,’ nor Oates, in his ‘ Birds of Burmah,’ 
nor Saunders, in his continuation of Newton’s edition of ‘ Yarrell’s British Birds,’ men- 
tion the occurrence of this bird in Siberia, which is scarcely doing justice to Finsch, who 
states that he identified the species with absolute certainty, although he failed to obtain 
a specimen. 
