CEdicxemid^.] 



STONE-CURLEW. 



CEDICNEMUS SCOLOPAX (S. G. Gmelin). 



Figure 1. 



Explanation of Plate. 



Suffolk, May 1891. 



Thetford, Norfolk, May 19, 1885. In collection of R. W. Chase, Esq. 



Suffolk, May 1891. 



Brandon, Suffolk, May 1891. 



• Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, February and March 1891. 



Norfolk, May 2, 1884. 

 Brandon, Suffolk, May 1891. 



The Stone-Curlew is a summer visitor to England, breeding on heaths and 

 downs in some of the eastern and southern counties, while a limited number pass 

 the winter in the south. In Scotland and Ireland it is only an accidental visitor. 



In an interesting article " On the habits of the Stone-Curlew," Mr. F. Menteith 

 Ogilvie writes*: — "The bird arrives here early in May, and leaves late in 

 September. Like most of the later migrants, I tliink, it nests within a short time 

 of its arrival. The nest is a mere hollow scraped in the bare peaty or sandy 

 earth, in which the two eggs are deposited. The eggs are beautifully protective 

 in colour, and extremely difficult for an inexperienced person to find, though they 

 lie, large and boldly-marked, on the bare earth. The earth on which the eggs 

 are laid is generally brown at first, but, as incubation proceeds, the rain and the 

 sun gradually transform this brown colour into a dull grey, by washing the brown 

 earth and leaving the sandy particles on the top. This is a point which, I think, 

 may be of some small service to the birds, for the darker colour seems more 



' Zoologist,' 1891, pp. 442-445. 



MAY 1 6 1914 



:^D 



