456 CLASS AVES. 



among the plovers proper. Latham has placed it with otis, 

 under the appellation of thick-kneed bustard ; but modern 

 naturalists in general, and our author, as has been seen, 

 having observed peculiar characters in the organization and 

 manners of this bird, have adopted the denomination of 

 Belon, and established the genus or subgenus of Oedicnemus. 

 The distinguishing characters are a peculiar swelling in the 

 leg, just below the knee, especially when the bird is young ; 

 and the end of the bill swelled out, above as well as under- 

 neath, compressed at the extremity, and a little depressed at 

 the base. The lower part of the legs and the tarsi are devoid 

 of feathers, and the thumb is wanting, as in the plovers. 



But one species was known, for some time, which, from very 

 striking relations, has been associated with the bustards, and 

 with the plovers, between which it appears to form a sort of 

 passage: The name of land or stone curlew was given it only 

 in consequence of some similitude of its cry to that of the 

 curlew. It is the Oedicnemus Europceus of M. Vieillot. 



These birds, which are larger than the woodcock, inhabit, 

 by preference, uncultivated and sandy grounds, where they 

 live on reptiles, snails, grasshoppers, and various other insects, 

 and even, according to M. Temminck, on small mammifera. 

 They are found in considerable numbers in the dijfferent parts 

 of the Old Continent. They do not inhabit farther north 

 than England, nor even here are they found in the colder 

 parts ; they are for the most part confined to our western 

 counties. In France, they inhabit Picardy, Orleanois, Beauce, 

 Champagne, &c., where they arrive before the spring, and 

 from which they depart in the month of November, during 

 the first autumnal rains. They are solitary and tranquil 

 during the day, and very timid, but do not stir unless they 

 are disturbed ; then they fly, shaving the ground, or run off* 

 rapidly, after which they squat down, and remain immove- 

 able. At the setting of the sun they bestir themselves, and 



