110 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



having the white on the outer web of the seventh much more developed. These 

 characters, so far as colour is concerned, do not appear to be absolutely constant, 

 but the separation of the two forms certainly seems warranted. (E. senegalensis, 

 a species which ranges across Africa, south of the Great Desert from Senegambia 

 in the west, across the Soudan to Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia in the east. 

 Differs from the Common Stone Curlew in having the medium wing coverts 

 uniform grey with dark shaft lines, and in having one bar only (the lower) across 

 the wing. 



Habits In many of its habits the Stone Curlew resembles the Bustards, 



although it is somewhat intermediate in this respect between those birds and the 

 Plovers. It is a summer visitor, as previously remarked, to our islands, arriving 

 in its old haunts about the middle of April, retiring south again in October. Its 

 haunts in our islands are heaths and commons, rough untilled country, downs and 

 warrens. Although in no sense an arboreal species, many of its favourite 

 haunts are surrounded by trees. However, like the Bustards, it is a bird of the 

 open, and never found on wooded ground. It runs with great speed, and flies 

 quickly, often at some height in the air above its haunts, especially at night. 

 The Stone Curlew is a decidedly nocturnal bird, and at the approach of dusk 

 becomes particularly lively and noisy as it seeks its favourite feeding grounds. 

 This may be especially remarked during bright moonlight nights. Its note is a 

 loud, clear, but somewhat plaintive cry. The food of the Stone Curlew is chiefly 

 of an animal nature, such as snails, worms, and insects, especially nocturnal 

 beetles, frogs, lizards, and mice. This bird has been accused of devouring the 

 chicks of Game Birds, but I am not aware that there is any positive evidence to 

 confirm the assertion. During the night the Stone Curlew frequently leaves its 

 native heath and seeks the turnip fields and pastures adjoining to search for food. 

 During the summer it appears not to be even social, but towards autumn, when 

 the broods are strong upon the wing, it becomes gregarious, and probably migrates 

 in flocks. Much of its time is spent upon the ground, where, at the approach of 

 danger, it often crouches low and motionless, trusting to the protective colour of 

 its plumage to shield it from observation. 



Nidification. — The breeding season of the Stone Curlew begins in May, 

 and the eggs are laid from about the middle of that month onwards to the end, 

 according to the state of the season. This species appears never to make any 

 nest beyond a mere hollow in some part of the heath where the ground is bare of 

 vegetation, and often strewn with stones. Hume, however, states that in India 

 the hollow is sometimes lined with a few scraps of grass. The eggs are two in 

 number in this country, although in India three are sometimes found. They are 

 various shades of pale bufiish-brown in ground-colour, blotched and spotted 

 or streaked with light and dark brown, and violet-grey. Some oggs are finely 



