234 THE STONE-CURLEW 



suitable than another, and it is significant that ornithologists have 

 shown no decided partiality in the matter. If the species had 

 any real claim to be considered a Plover, the name great-plover 

 would be appropriate enough, for it is larger than any British 

 plover. The fact that the county of Norfolk, together with the 

 adjoining one of Suffolk, provides nesting-ground for probably 

 more individuals than all the rest of England, might justify the use 

 of the name Norfolk-plover. Its more popular name, stone-curlew, 

 has caused it to be confused with the curlew of the genus Numeniva, 

 with which it has as little relationship as with any of the Limicolce. 

 The name probably originated from a fancied resemblance of its 

 wild night cries to those of the curlew ; and its very decided pre- 

 dilection for sandy stone-covered ground gained the distinguishing 

 prefix "stone." As to the name thick-knee, not only does the 

 oadematous swelling in the leg of the immature bird occur at what 

 is, properly speaking, the ankle, and not the knee-joint, but the 

 character is common to the young of all Waders ! It becomes, 

 therefore, a matter for some consideration which name to use in 

 this work, and I choose stone-curlew with this caution to readers, 

 not to connect it in any way with the curlew of the genus Numenius 

 as in East Anglia, where the bird flourishes in greatest numbers, 

 and where I know it, it is the name used by the local inhabitants. 

 One seldom, in fact, hears the first part of the name, " curlew," or 

 rather " cullew," being most often used. 



The stone-curlew belongs to a well-defined genus comprising less 

 than a dozen species. Three or four of these belong to the African 

 continent, three to tropical America, and one to Australia ; while 

 two other species are somewhat unnecessarily separated under the 

 generic name Esacus\ these are oriental, one inhabiting the plains 

 of India, Burma, and Ceylon, and the other the islands of the 

 Australasian group. 



Although our bird has a wide distribution, it does not travel 

 nearly so far on migration as do many of the Waders. A local race 



