Part 67

The order Alectorides, which follows, includes two noble forms once common, but now extinct in this country. One is the crane (Grus communis), which was abundant in the fen country down to the latter end of the seventeenth century. The other, finest of British birds, is the great bustard (Otis tarda), which lived in all suitable localities in England, from the southern counties to Yorkshire, and was wantonly extirpated during the first half of the present century.

The little bustard (Otis tetrax) occurs as a rare straggler in the eastern half of England.

A single example of Macqueen’s bustard (Otis macqueeni), an Asiatic species, was obtained in England half a century ago.

Stone-Curlew.

Œdicnemus scolopax.

Beak black, yellowish at the base; irides, orbits, legs, and feet yellow; upper parts mottled pale brown; wing-coverts with white tips, forming two narrow bars; quill black; throat and stripe beneath the eye white; neck and breast buff streaked with dark brown. Length, seventeen inches. Sexes alike.

* * * * *

The stone-curlew owes its name to a superficial resemblance in its size and pale brown, mottled plumage to the common curlew, and to its preference for a sandy or stony soil. It is also called the thick-knee, from the curious conformation of its knees, which are very massive, and have a somewhat bulbous appearance. Its other common names are big plover and Norfolk plover, Norfolk and Suffolk being now the headquarters of this species in England, although it is still found in small and, sad to say, diminishing numbers in suitable localities from Hampshire and Dorsetshire in the south to the wolds of Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in the north. It does not occur in Ireland. It is a bird of a somewhat singular appearance, and is the sole representative of its family in Europe. It is a summer visitor to England, a few birds remaining to winter in the southern counties, and inhabits extensive heaths where there are patches of stony or pebbly ground; and it also frequents fallows and downs. In its habits it is semi-nocturnal, feeding principally by night; it is by night that its wild, clear, ringing cry is usually heard. Its breeding-time is about the middle of April, when it deposits its two eggs in a slight hollow in the ground, among the flint pebbles and scanty vegetation. The eggs are buff-coloured, spotted and streaked with grey and brown, and are very hard to discover, so well do they harmonise in hue and markings with the sandy and pebbly ground on which they are placed.

Mr. Trevor-Battye thus describes the nesting habits of the stone-curlew in his ‘Pictures in Prose’:--‘This bird, quite apart from its own very quaint appearance and habits, must always have a great interest for British ornithologists, as it is the nearest surviving link we have with the great bustard, now, alas! extinct in this country. It is nocturnal in its habits, and is extremely wary and shy. Although on its arrival in spring it keeps well away in the open, it generally lays its eggs not far from a belt or covert of trees. The pair of which I speak had chosen the middle of a gravelly space among the pines. By creeping upon hands and knees under cover of a bank one could gain a position, just fifteen paces away from the nest, without being observed, so close that with my glass I could see the light shine through the crystal prominence of the sitting-bird’s great yellow eyes. At intervals one bird would relieve the other on the nest. When disturbed the birds ran away for shelter to a bank beneath the pines. And here the bird that was not sitting always stood sentry. When its turn came to relieve its mate it would walk pretty deliberately across the first part of the open, where it was more or less screened by a fringe of trees; and then, having reached a point that was commanded from a long way off, it would suddenly lower its head, and run as fast as a red-leg to the nest. When it was about a yard away the sitting-bird would slip off, and, staying for no greetings, run past, and away to the pine-bank.... It was interesting to notice that the bird always rose backwards from the nest, so that its long legs should not disturb the eggs; and that the new-comer did not turn the eggs immediately, but squatted perfectly still for perhaps a minute, as if to make sure it was not disturbed. And after the eggs were satisfactorily disposed, and all the coast seemed clear, the bird would close its eyes in the hot sunshine, and appear to go to sleep. But even then I could scarcely so much as move a finger above the ground but instantly it was off its nest and away.’

It is very delightful to be thus let into the domestic secrets of so shy and wary a bird by so close and sympathetic an observer as Mr. Trevor-Battye.

When anxious to avoid being seen the stone-curlew practises the device of squatting close on the ground with its neck extended. The South American rheas have a similar habit, and it is, perhaps, possessed by other large birds that have a more or less protective colouring and inhabit the open country.

The stone-curlew feeds on slugs, worms, and insects, and also devours mice and small reptiles.

* * * * *

The family Glareolidæ is represented in works on British birds by one species, the collared pratincole (Glareola pratincola), a rare straggler to Great Britain from Southern Europe. This bird comes between the stone-curlew and the true plovers (family Charadriidæ), which follow.

* * * * *

The cream-coloured courser (Cursorius gallicus) is another rare straggler to England from Western Asia and North Africa.

Golden Plover.

Charadrius pluvialis.

Upper parts greyish black spotted with gamboge-yellow; above the eye a white line, which continues down the neck to the flanks; under parts black. After the autumnal moult the under parts are white, and the upper parts more yellow than in spring. The female, in summer, has less black on the breast. Length, eleven inches.

* * * * *

The golden plover has for several centuries been in great esteem for the table, its fame in this respect being equal to that of the dotterel, woodcock, ruff, and black-tailed godwit. The two last named have now ceased to exist in this country as breeding species. The golden plover, although incessantly persecuted by fowlers and sportsmen, is still not uncommon; probably because the great majority of the birds that visit the British islands on migration in autumn and winter have their breeding-grounds in remote regions north of the arctic circle, where there are no human beings to molest them. The birds that breed with us are also migratory, and escape destruction by going south in autumn.

The golden plover gets its common name from the rich yellow spots that decorate its upper parts. All the species of the genus to which it belongs undergo a very remarkable change of plumage every year: in winter the whole under parts are pure white; in spring the white changes to intense black, and this nuptial, or summer dress, lasts until the autumn moult, when the winter white is resumed. With us this species breeds in suitable localities throughout the British Islands, but very sparingly in the southern half of England. The nest is a slight hollow among heather or short grass, sometimes on the bare ground, and is scantily lined with dry grass. The eggs, of a yellowish stone-colour, spotted and blotched with blackish brown, are four in number, and are handsome, and large for the bird. The young when hatched are pretty little creatures, orange-yellow and brown in colour.

The call-note of the golden plover, clear and wild and far-reaching, is one of the bird-sounds that have a great charm. In the pairing season the male emits a different sound, by way of love-song, as he rises and flutters in the air above his mate, and reiterates a double note so rapidly that it runs into a trill.

After the breeding season the birds unite in flocks, and leave the moors for the lowlands and seashore.

* * * * *

The Eastern, or lesser golden plover (Charadrius fulvus), a form of the British golden plover differing only in its slightly smaller size, has been obtained on two or three occasions in this country.

Grey Plover.

Squatarola helvetica.