272 Mr.T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 
355. PLECTOPTERUS GAMBENSIS (Linn.). Western Spur- 
winged Goose. 
This is the commonest of our wild Geese, and is by no 
means capital eating, as the flesh is coarse and tasteless, and 
the young birds have scarcely any meat on them. Some- 
times they are very shy, and at others almost absurdly tame ; 
as a rule, it requires heavy shot to killthem. They come out 
early in the morning from the swamps and reeds to feed on 
grass-seeds, and often are seen on the farmer’s corn-lands : 
if stalked in the long grass they will almost invariably creep 
away, instead of taking wing; and unless the hunter has a 
dog it is no easy matter for him to find them, as they run at 
a good pace, and by the time he is on the spot, expecting them 
to rise, he sometimes sees the head of one a couple of hun- 
dred yards off examining the situation ; if the shooter squats 
when the birds are flying, they will often come and have a look 
at him, and this curiosity frequently costs them their lives. 
As a rule, they are gregarious, but are sometimes seen singly, 
and at others in pairs; they breed away from water in thick 
grassy or rushy spots, and lay a number of white eggs with 
thick glossy shells. 
[Two specimens which I have received from Mr. Ayres 
are both immature; but the older of the two is beginning 
to assume the white throat, showing that it belongs to 
P. gambensis, and not to P. niger.—J. H. G.] 
ANAS XANTHORHYNCHA, Forst. Yellow-billed Duck. 
These Ducks, during the winter moult, lose all the feathers 
of the wings at once, and then they take good care not to get 
far away from the reeds and other cover, where they hide 
with much cunning ; a good water-spaniel is then useful, as 
the birds, though moulting, are generally fat and excellent 
eating. I shot several in this condition on the “ Barbel Pan,” 
near the Rhinoster river, in the Orange Free State, last 
winter. * 
356. Pa@cinoneTTa ERYTHRORHYNCHA (Gmel.). African 
Pink-billed Duck. 
Male and female, Potchefstroom, 30th June and 24th 
March. 
