105 



GREAT PLOVEE. 



NORFOLK PLOVEE. STONE CURLEW. THICK-KNEED BUSTARD. 



(Edicnemus crepitans, . . . Selby. 



Charadrius cedicnemus, . . . Linn^tjs. 



Otis cedicnemus, .... Pennant. 



(Edicneme criard, .... Tehmujck. 



CEdicnemus, from Oideo — To swell, and Kneme — A leg. Crepitans — Creaking. 



This fine bird, "which would appear to form a connecting link between the Bustards 

 and true Plovers, is found pretty widely and by no means unfrequently distributed 

 over this country. Being a migratory bird, arriving in this country in the spring 

 breeding with us, and again leaving in the autumn, it is not probable that it will 

 ever become extinct; for its haunts are little calculated for the plough of the husband- 

 man; and we may therefore look upon the Great Plover as being little likely to meet 

 with the fate of the Great Bustard, and many other birds once common in this 

 country. 



In England, it is very generally distributed, as will be seen from the following list of 

 localities. It occurs commonly in Cambridgeshire; several have been procured in Cornwall, 

 and it is also said to winter there. In Devonshire it is not common; in Dorsetshire 

 it occurs frequently; at least we can speak for the south-western part of the county. 

 Essex, Hampshire, Kent, also possess it in tolerable numbers : in Lancashire it is rare. 

 It is not uncommon in Lincolnshire; is very plentiful in Norfolk, as one of its trivial 

 names implies; Suffolk and Sussex are also well supplied with it. In Worcestershire if 

 sometimes occurs, and is not very uncommon in Yorkshire. 



In Ireland it is very rare, having only been recognised about half a dozen times. One 

 was shot in the county of Clare in the autumn of 1844; another at Clontarf, near Dublin, 

 on January 27th., 1829. Two were seen on the Iveragh mountains in Kerry, in August, 

 1842; another was shot near Brownstown, in the county of Waterford, in March, 1840; 

 and the last was shot near Wexford, on December 4th., 1844. 



In Scotland it has not yet been seen. 



Out of this country, it occurs in more or less abundance in France, Germany, the 



