87 
stances, if at all (?) is not stated, and in like manner the Turnstone 
and Oyster Catcher are said to he “ rarely found to visit this 
district.” — So rarely, that I scarcely hesitate to assert they never 
have ! ! The Lapwing which, though in greatly diminished num- 
bers, breeds annually on the warren, is only said to do so 
“ generally,” and the Norfolk Plover or Stone Curlew, which also 
still breeds there — as it did two hundred years ago, when Sir 
'J’hos. Browne of Norwich received one, in the flesh, “ from about 
Thetford,” and forwarded a drawing of it to his friend and brother 
naturalist, John Bay — is alluded to in the briefest form. 
This fine species, however, is amply avenged for any slight ex- 
perienced in the natural history portion of this volume, since in the 
chapter, (p. 265), on “Fossil remains found at Thetford,” Mr. Hunt 
first quotes, as follows, from the work of Thomas Martin, “ The 
historian of Thetford : ” — 
“ Mr. Kay, in his preflice to his Collection of English Words, 
printed in London, 1674, makes mention of a stone curlew, [Sir 
Thos. Browne’s] which was found near Thetford, it had a remark- 
able eye, somewhat resembling that of a green plover.” 
And then adds, in a foot note, — by way of explanation and 
apology for Martin, whose “ attempt,” as he describes it, “ in this 
important and interesting branch of science was so little successful,” 
and whose “ failure may be in great part accounted for from the 
fact that the science itself, in his time, was little known or under- 
stood : ” — 
This story of the “ Stone Curlew” with its “remarkable eye ” is a most 
marvellous one, and I fear, not founded upon careful obser\’ation. No doubt 
it was a peculiarly shaped flint, of which, there are a great many in our chalk 
pits. It must have been a remarkable eye that saw the fossil curlew. 
Further comment is unnecessary when an author’s knowledge of 
his subject thus falls short of the intelligence of any local shep- 
herd or warrener. 
