STONE-CURLEW 



(Edicnemus scolopax 



N some of the eastern counties of England, among the 

 warrens and heaths, the Stone-Curlew is still a fairly 

 common bird, and breeds annually in the counties of 

 Yorkshire, Lincoln, Bedford, Buckingham, Hertford, 

 Oxford, Dorset, Hants, Sussex, Kent, etc. It is a more 

 or less accidental straggler to other parts of England on 

 migration. In Scotland it is only known as a rare 

 visitor, and has occurred about half a dozen times in Ireland. 



The favourite haunts of the Stone-Curlew or Norfolk Plover are the 

 warrens, commons, and heaths of the lowlands. It is most partial to open 

 ground, where it can keep a good look-out and detect the approach of danger 

 from all sides. The Stone- Curlew arrives in its summer haunts about the 

 middle of April, leaving them for the south about the end of October, though 

 a few birds winter in some of the southern counties. It loves the open heaths 

 and sandy wastes, but in some parts of Suffolk I have found its nest in sandy 

 fields almost surrounded by plantations of firs. It is most active about nightfall, 

 when its loud plaintive cry ' ktir-leea,' ' kiirr-leeaa ' may be heard in the hush 

 of evening, and often at midnight. As soon as the young can fly the Stone- 

 Curlews become more or less* gregarious, and the broods and their parents join 

 into flocks, often consisting of a hundred or more birds. 



The food of the Stone-Curlew consists of worms, slugs, and snails ; 

 insects of various kinds are also eaten, such as beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, 

 etc. The bird also takes small frogs, lizards, etc., and is said to occasionally 

 take field-mice and voles. 



On sandy ground, and in the chalk and flint districts, the light colour 

 of the Stone-Curlew's plumage makes the bird almost invisible; but on the 

 heaths, where there is usually a fair proportion of peat, the bird is very 

 conspicuous, even at some distance. The bird seems mainly to rely on its 

 power of observation to escape its enemies, and selects a situation for its nest 

 VOL. iv. Q 6 1 



