COURSERS. 



339 



ground before mounting into the air. It utters a note which resembles the 

 syllables " curlui," and from this, and its habit of frequenting waste and stony- 

 places, it has been called the Stone Curlew. The food of these birds consists 

 chiefly of worms, slugs, and insects, in search of which they frequent open 

 districts, heaths, and fallow fields. They appear to be crepuscular or noc- 

 turnal in their habits, and their shrill whistling note is often heard at night in 

 their solitary haunts. 





Fig. I70.— The Thick-knee {OEdicnetnus crepitans). 



Sub-Family IT. 



THE COURSERS. CURSORIN^.* 



General Characteristics. — Bill moderate, slender, with the base of the culmen 

 weak and somewhat cultrated above the nostrils, beyond which it is slightly arched 

 to the tip ; the nostrils lateral, placed in a short subtriangular membranous groove, 

 with the opening longitudinal and exposed ; the wings lengthened and pointed ; the 

 tail short ; and the legs lengthened, scutellated in front and behind, and with on!}- 

 three slender toes in front. 



These birds are inhabitants of Europe, Asia, and Africa. They 

 are found on sandy deserts or on open, stony, and grassy plains. 



* Cursor, a ruttner. 



22-^2 



