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515 



THE STONE-CURLEW. 



Qldicnemus sc(')L01'ax (S. (t. Gmelin). 



The Stone-Curlew is often called the Thicknee, owing to the 

 swelling observable at the knee-joints in young birds, which dis- 

 appears with increasing age ; while another name for it is Norfolk 

 Plover, with reference to its comparative abundance on the extensive 

 ' brecks ' of East Anglia. As a rule it comes to this country in 

 April, and after assembling in Hocks in the early autumn, leaves in 

 October ; but in open weather a few have been known to remain 

 until December, even in Suffolk, while in the mild climate of Corn- 

 wall and South Devon a tolerable number pass the winter. The 

 localities to which it is partial are chalk downs, open heaths, and 

 dry sandy soils, such as are found in Dorset, Wilts, Hants, Sussex, 

 Kent (where it breeds down in Romney Marsh as well as on the 

 neighbouring uplands), Berkshire and on the north side of the 

 Thames, in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk 

 and Norfolk. It is also known to have nested in Rutland, Notts, 

 and Worcestershire, and on the wolds of Lincolnshire and East 



