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Family GEDICNEMID-E. 



Genus CEDICNEMUS. 



Piuvialis apud Brisson, Orn. v. p. 77 (1760). 



Charadrius apud Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 255 (1766). 



Otis apud Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 661 (1790). 



(Eclicnemus, Temminck, Man. d'Orn. p. 322 (1815). 



Fedoa apud Leach, Syst. Cat. M. & B. Brit. Mus. p. 28 (1816). 



Oidicnemus apud Fleming, Brit. Anira. p. 114 (1828). 



This genus contains eight species, five of which inhabit the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental 

 Regions, one only being found in the Western Palsearctic Region, two of the other three being 

 inhabitants of the Neotropical Begion, and the third found only in the Australian Region. 



In many respects the Stone-Curlews resemble the Bustards in their habits ; for they frequent 

 open treeless localities, much less frequently such as are under cultivation than those which are 

 barren and bare, and they are nearly always seen far away from water. They are, to a large 

 extent, nocturnal in their habits, remaining quiet during the day, and starting off in search of food 

 directly the evening sets in. They feed on worms, insects, &c. ; and they are also said to devour 

 mice, frogs, &c. Their call-note is loud and shrill, and, when uttered during still nights, may 

 be heard at a considerable distance. Their flight is heavier than that of the Plovers, but lighter 

 than the flight of the Bustard ; their walk is light and quick ; and they can run with great swift- 

 ness. When suddenly disturbed, they will squat and trust to their resemblance to the ground to 

 escape observation. They make no nest, but deposit in a depression in the ground their eggs, 

 which are stone-buff in colour, spotted and blotched with dark brown. 



(Edicnemus scolopax, the type of the genus, has the bill slightly longer than the head, 

 straight, stout, depressed at the base, the upper mandible straight to about the middle, and then 

 decurved to the tip, lower mandible with the angle long and narrow ; nasal sinus large, filled 

 with a bare membrane ; nostrils linear, oblong, placed in the anterior part of the nasal sinus ; 

 wings moderately long, pointed, the first two quills nearly equal, the secondaries nearly as long 

 as the primaries ; tail long, graduated ; legs long, slender ; tibia bare for a short distance ; 

 tarsus covered with hexagonal scales; hind toe wanting, the anterior toes short, scutellate, 

 webbed at the base ; claws short, slightly arched, obtuse. 



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