282 BRITISH BIRDS 



Stone-Curlew. 



CEdicnemus scolopax. 



Fia. 96. STONE -CURLEW. natural size. 



Beak black, yellowish at the base ; irides, orbits, legs, and 

 feet yellow ; upper parts mottled pale brown ; wing- coverts with 

 white tips, forming two narrow bars ; quill black ; throat and 

 stripe beneath the eye white ; neck and breast buff streaked with 

 dark brown. Length, seventeen inches. Sexes alike. 



The stone-curlew owes it name to a superficial resemblance in 

 its size and pale brown, mottled plumage to the common curlew, 

 and to its preference for a sandy or stony soil. It is also called the 

 thick-knee, from the curious conformation of its knees, which are 

 very massive, and have a somewhat bulbous appearance. Its other 

 common names are big plover and Norfolk plover, Norfolk and 

 Suffolk being now the headquarters of this species in England, 

 although it is still found in small and, sad to say, diminishing 

 numbers in suitable localities from Hampshire and Dorsetshire in 



