AurHouGH called the Spur- 
Winged Goose, 
Spur-Winged the handsome 
Gooses bird) (Plectrop- 
terus gambensis) illustrated 
under that title is not a true 
goose, but is more nearly 
related to the Muscovy Duck, 
which it resembles in its 
glossy dark-green and white 
plumage, and in the fact that 
the male is much larger than 
the female, to say nothing of 
Photos 
by W. P. 
Dando, F.Z S. 
PLUMED GROUND-DOVE. 
SPUR-WINGED GOOSE. 
the form of the beak, which 
is not goose-hke. The most 
remarkable point about the 
bird is its possession of a pair 
of strong spurs, situated on 
the pinion-joint of the wings, 
and not seen while these 
are closed. These weapons 
can be used with great effect ; 
a bird belonging to a dealer 
in Calcutta cut a man’s 
chest open with a blow, and 
another which was in our 
London Zoological Gardens 
some years ago laid up a gardener for a fortnight, 
having struck him on the knee with the spur. 
The spur-wing has also been found by the 
well-known waterfowl amateur, Miss Rose Hub- 
bard, to be mischievous with smaller species, 
taking up a small duck bodily in its bill and 
running off with it when chased. For these 
reasons the spur-wing is not popular with 
waterfowl-keepers, and is not usually to be seen 
outside zoological gardens. It has been, however, 
brought to England for many years, and was 
introduced here even before 1678. Specimens 
have also been shot in England at large, but 
these must have been escaped birds, for naturally 
the bird does not range north of the Sahara, 
its home being Africa south of that desert, 
where it takes the place of the true geese, 
which are not found in the region 1t inhabits. 
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