THE THICK-KNEE OR STONE CURLEW 239 
FAMILY CHARADRIID/ 
THE THICK-KNEE OR STONE CURLEW 
(EDICNEMUS SCOLOPAX 
Upper parts reddish ash with a white spot in the middle of each feather ; 
space between the eye and beak, throat, belly, and thighs, white; neck 
and breast tinged with red, and marked with fine longitudinal brown 
streaks ; a white longitudinal bar on the wing; first primary with a 
large white spot in the middle ; second, with a small one on the inner web ; 
lower tail-coverts reddish, the feathers, except those in the middle, 
tipped with black; beak black, yellowish at the base; irides, orbits, 
and feet, yellow. Length seventeeninches. Eggs yellowish brown clouded 
with greenish, blotched and spotted with dusky and olive. 
THOUGH a citizen of the world, or at least of the eastern hemis- 
phere, this bird is commonly known under the name of Norfolk 
Plover, from its being more abundant in that county than in any 
other. It is also called Thick-knee, from the robust conformation 
of this joint ; and Stone Curlew, from its frequenting waste stony 
places and uttering a note which has been compared to the sound 
of the syllables curlut or turlutz. Like the Cuckoo, it is more fre- 
quently heard than seen, but that only by night. In some of its 
habits it resembles the Bustard, and is said even to associate, in 
Northern Africa, with the Lesser Bustard. Its favourite places 
of resort are extensive plains; it runs rapidly when disturbed, and 
when it does take wing, flies for a considerable distance near the 
ground before mounting into the air. It frequents our open heaths 
and chalk downs and breeds in Romney Marsh and in the uplands 
of Kent and Sussex. 
By day the Thick-knee confines itself to the ground, either 
crouching or hunting for food, which consists of worms, slugs, and 
beetles, under stones, which it is taught by its instinct to turn over. 
After sunset, it takes flight, and probably rises to a great height, 
as its plaintive whistle, which somewhat resembles the wail of a 
human being, is often heard overhead when the bird is invisible. 
It is singularly shy, and carefully avoids the presence of human 
beings, whether sportsmen or labourers. Yet it is not destitute 
of courage, as it has been seen to defend its nest with vigour against 
the approach of sheep or even of dogs. Nest, properly speaking, 
it has none, for it contents itself with scratching a hole in the ground 
and depositing two eggs. The males are supposed to assist in the 
office of incubation. The young inherit the faculty of running at 
an early age, being able to leave their birth-place with facility 
soon after they are hatched; but the development of their wings 
is a work of time, for their body has attained its full size long before 
they are able to rise from the ground. Before taking their depar- 
ture southwards in autumn, tliey assemble in small parties, number- 
ing from four to six or seven, when they are somewhat more easy 
