COMMON THICK-KNEE. 



401 



the spring and summer, departing about October, 

 except in unusually mild seasons, when some will 

 stay the whole winter, as mentioned before. It is 

 seldom observed during the day, except surprised, 

 when it suddenly flies to some distance, and ge- 

 nerally escapes before the sportsman comes within 

 gun-shot. It runs with great velocity for some 

 time, and then stops short, holding its head and 

 body still, and on the least noise squats close on 

 the ground. In the evening it comes out in search 

 of food, and utters its singular cry, which is com- 

 pared to the turning of a rusty handle : its food 

 consists of worms, caterpillars, toads, and such 

 like, and according to the observations of Mr. 

 Haworth, it preys upon the larvae of Lasiocampa 

 Trifolii, to procure which it turns over the stones 

 beneath which they are secreted. 



It does not construct any nest, but deposits its 

 eggs in a small excavation on the bare ground, or 

 sheltered by two or three stones : the eggs are 

 two or three in number, of a greyish white, blotched 

 and streaked with dusky olive ; they are hatched 

 in about thirty days. The young run almost 

 immediately they are excluded, and the female 

 leads them to some stony field, where they are dif- 

 ficult to discover, as they greatly resemble the 

 stones in colour ; they are sometimes hatched late 

 in the autumn, about October. 



