Order LIMICOL^E. 



Family CEDICNEMIDjE. 



THE STONE-CURLEW. 

 CEdicnemus scolopax (S. G. Gmelin). 

 Plate 6i. 



The Stone-Curlew, distinguished also by the various names of Great Plover, 

 Stone-Plover, Norfolk Plover, and Thick-Knee, the last having been applied to it 

 on account of the swollen tibio-tarsal joint, noticeable in the immature birds, is best 

 known as a summer visitor to England, though a few remain during the winter, 

 especially in Devonshire and Cornwall. Its favourite haunts are the chalk-downs 

 and barren sandy warrens of the southern and eastern counties, and though it is 

 known to breed as far north as Yorkshire, it is only an occasional visitor to the 

 other parts of England and Wales, and rarely occurs either in Scotland or Ireland. 



Inhabiting Central and Southern Europe and ranging eastwards as far as Central 

 Asia, this partially migratory species is also found in North Africa, Abyssinia, 

 India, Burma, and Ceylon. 



In England, the birds usually arrive at their breeding stations in April, and the 

 nest, consisting only of a slight hollow in the sand or chalky soil, generally contains 

 two eggs ; these are yellowish-buff in ground colour, blotched and streaked with 

 brown, with underlying grey shell-markings, and closely resemble the stones and 

 flints scattered around. 



The Stone-Curlew is nocturnal in its habits, and after dark usually leaves the 

 higher barren uplands to forage among the fields and pastures for worms, slugs, 

 beetles, and other insects on which it feeds. It will also capture mice and reptiles. 



When passing to their feeding grounds the birds are very noisy and clamorous, 

 their note, according to Stevenson {Birds of Norfolk), being a " loud vibratory 

 whistle which may be heard at all times of the night. By moonlight their cries 

 become even more incessant. . . ." 



If approached by day they endeavour to escape observation by squatting, when 

 they are not easily seen owing to their colour matching so closely the surrounding 

 sand and pebbles, although their large yellow eye will often betray them. 



Before leaving us in autumn, Stone-Curlews congregate in large flocks, but 

 since the cultivation of so much waste land and the increase of plantations, they are 

 not now so numerous as in former days. 



The sexes do not differ in plumage. 



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