(Burhinus oedicnemus; in Russian, avdotka), a cranelike bird. It is sandy gray with black markings and a whitish breast; approximately 45 cm long. The curlew lives in Europe, Middle and South Asia, and North Africa; in the USSR it is found in Kaliningrad Oblast, the south European regions, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, and Middle Asia.
The stone curlew lives in deserts and steppes near water. The nocturnal bird feeds on insects, lizards, and small rodents. It lays two (rarely, three) yellowish eggs with dark speckles in a depression in the sand or on the ground; both parents sit on the eggs 26 days. It is a migratory bird.