4G0 
COMMON THICK-KNEE. 
Length eighteen inches : the whole of the 
upper parts of the plumage are grey-brown, with 
a deeper longitudinal spot in the middle of each 
feather : the throat, belly, and thighs, are pure 
white : the neck and breast reddish, with longi- 
tudinal brown stripes ; on the wing is a longitudinal 
band of white ; the hrst quill having towards its 
middle a large white spot, and the second a very 
small one on its outer web : the base of the beak 
is bright yellowish, the tip black : the orbits, 
irides, and feet, are bright yellow : the knees are 
much swollen, from whence the name. The young 
and females are much the same, but duller in ap- 
pearance. 
Thick-knees inhabit only the most open, hilly 
situations ; large corn-fields, heaths, and such like, 
are their favourite resort, particularly dry and 
stony lands. They are abundant in France, Italy, 
and other southern parts of Europe, but in Ger- 
many, Holland, and England, are somewhat scarce : 
in the latter country, Norfolk, Hampshire, and 
Lincolnshire, are the places most frequented : 
they ave also tolerably plentiful in some parts of 
Kent, affecting the rising slopes and hills on each 
side of the valley between Hartford and Earning- 
ham : in the north they are never found, and 
rarely beyond Dorsetshire in the west. During 
the winter of 1807 several were observed on the 
Start promontory, which is nearly the most southern 
part of the kingdom. 
This species is migrative, making its first ap- 
pearance about ^lay, and remaining with us all 
