THE THICK-KNEES. 
129 
species extends to. Central Asia and the Altai district, win- 
tering in India and the Burmese provinces. The Indian birds 
have been separated as a distinct race, as the generality of 
specimens are smaller, while the third primary has a white spot 
This is a character which is found in some European speci- 
mens, and no line of difference can be drawn between European 
and Asiatic examples. 
Hatiits. — Open spaces, heaths, and wolds arc the natural 
habitat of the Thick-knee, which is a particularly shy and timid 
bird The bare parts of the eastern counties and our southern 
downs the wilds of Salisbury Plain, and the wide extent of 
shingly beach on the coast of Kent— all these are favourite 
resorts of the species in England, and it is in these localities it 
breeds. Sometimes a single pair will be found inhabiting a 
wide extent of the Plampshire Downs, while on Salisbury Flam 
several pairs will be encountered in the space of a single day. 
I have kept several of these birds in confinement, and allowed 
them the run of a garden, but they are always timid, and 
never become very tame. When pursued, they have ,the 
curious habit of running along for some distance with their 
necks outstretched, and then lying down with extended neck, 
evidently trusting to the similarity of their plumage to then- 
barren surroundings for concealment. Ihey will lie thus and 
allow themselves to be taken by the hand. The note is 
musical when the bird is flying in the air, calling to his mate, 
but changes to a note of terror when a Peregrine comes m 
sight and I have seen several captured by trained Hawks. 
Thick-knees are, as a rule, more active in the evening, and 
are rather silent birds during the day. They will eat almost 
anything, from a field-mouse or a frog to a worm or an 
insect, though beetles constitute a large proportion of their 
food. ' I have known a young one to be brought up largely on 
meat, and slices off the breast of a freshly-killed Sparrow were 
swallowed with avidity. 
jfgst. None, the eggs being deposited on the bare earth in 
a shallow depression. They so closely resemble their sur- 
roundings that they can easily be mistaken for the stones, 
of which there are generally plenty on the fallow ground 
selected by the bird for the deposition of its eggs. They are 
K 
II 
