79 



PLECTROPTERUS GAMBENSIS. 



Phc. — Ater: subtus albiis. 



GAMBA GOOSE. 



Plec. black ; below white. 



IN. IN. IN. 



Length 391 Naked part of the bill 5 Tarsi 5 



Plec. : smaller wing coverts, belly, neck, and thighs white ; tbe remainder deep purplish 

 black ; spur on the wing of the male one inch long ; male with a large knob on the culmen, at the 

 base of the bill. 



Female smaller than the male, and with the knob at the culmen of the bill smaller. 



Plectropterus Gambensis Stejih. Shaw Zool. 12, 7. 



. li/as Gambenses Linn. S//st. Nat. 1 , 195. 



Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1, 503. 



Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 839. 



Shan; Mus. Sev.pl. p. 231. 



An African species, inhabiting the Gamba. 



The following are some notes we took on the dissectiou of a female specimen. The length of 

 the intestinal, from gizzard to anus, 6 feet 4 inches ; from caeca to anus 4 inches ; the length of 

 cfeca 5f inches. Trachea acted upon by two pairs of muscles ; first pair the usual sterno tracheal 

 ones ; second pair diverging from the trachea higher than the first, and inserted in the coracoids. 

 Tube of large calibre, contracted slightly just above the inferior larynx, which resembles in form 

 that of the true geese. The bronchire of equal diameter. OZsophagus placed on the right side of 

 the neck, and much dilated in the middle. The sternum long and narrow. 



The above account appears to bear a considerable resemblance to that of the Cereopsis of Mr. 

 Yarrell. 



N. P. Our cut of the bill and foot illustrating the genus was taken from a female specimen. 



