108 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Family CEDICNEMID/E.— The Stone Curlews. 



The birds in the present family are characterised by having the nostrils 

 holorhinal, as in the Bustards, but the dorsal vertebrae are opisthocselous, and the 

 basipterygoid processes are absent. The toes are not webbed ; the hallux is 

 wanting ; and the metatarsus is reticulated both before and behind. The bill is 

 moderately long, in all the species the genys is very pronounced, and with two 

 exceptions the dertrum is well marked. The legs are rather long, but the toes 

 are short and Bustard-like. Moult single, in autumn. This family contains, at 

 present, eleven species and races distributed over the warmer parts of the Palse- 

 arctic region, throughout the Ethiopian region, the Oriental region, parts of the 

 Australian region, and the northern portions of the Neotropical region. The 

 present family has been subdivided into no less than four genera by Dr. Sharps, 

 three of them containing but a single species each. Possibly two may be 

 admitted, one of which contains a British representative. 



Genus GEDICNEMUS, or Typical Stone Curlews. 



Type, (EDICNEMUS CEBPITANS. 



CEdicnemus, of Temminck (1815). — The birds comprising the present 

 genus are characterised by having the bill shorter than the head, and the angle 

 of the genys rising gradually. The outer rectrices are an inch or more shorter 

 than the central ones. The black tips to all but the central rectrices and the 

 white pattern on the webs of the first three primaries are also characteristic of 

 this group. The wings are moderately long, and the tail of twelve feathers is 

 much graduated. 



This genus is composed of nine species and races, which are distributed over 

 various parts of Temperate and Southern Europe, Australia, and Temperate and 

 Tropical Asia and Africa, and Tropical America. One species is a smnmer visitor 

 to the British Islands. 



The Stone Curlews are dwellers in similar country to that frequented by the 

 Bustards, which birds they resemble in their habits. They are more or less 

 nocturnal. Their flight is rapid and well sustained. Their notes are loud and 

 harsh. They subsist chiefly on worms, frogs, small animals, and insects, They 

 make no nest, laying their eggs (two or three in number, and double-spotted) on 

 the bare ground. They are monogamous. 



