116 ANSERES PLECTEOPTEEUS 



" Wilde Maoaauw " or " Maccoa " of the Dutch, " Peele Peele " of the 

 Bechuanas (Nicolls and Eglington), " Esikwi " of the Kaffirs 

 (Lawrence), " Letsikhin " of the Basutos (Murray). 



Description. Adult MaZe.— General colour black with coppery- 

 red and green reflections ; sides of the head, throat, lower part of 

 the neck, breast and abdomen, thighs and under tail-coverts, some 

 of the lesser wing-coverts and edge and angle of the wing, white ; a 

 stout sharp pointed carpal spur at the bend of the wing. 



Iris hazel ; bill, including the bare skin at the top of the head 

 and the frontal knob, red ; nail of the bill whitish ; bare skin round 

 the eye and on the sides of the face grey ; feet flesh coloured. 



Fig. 33. — Head of Plectropterus gambensis, i . x | 



Length about 39 ; wing 21-5 ; tail 7-5 ; tarsus 4-5 ; culmen 3-5; 

 weight about 12 lbs., has been obtained up to 15 lbs. 



The female resembles the male but is rather smaller (wing 18-2 

 according to Andersson) and has the naked part of the face less 

 extended and a smaller frontal knob. Young birds have the face 

 entirely feathered and no knob. 



Distribution. — The Spur-winged Goose is found throughout the 

 whole of the Ethiopian region from the Gambia and Kordofan on 

 the White Nile southwards. A certain amount of variation, how- 

 ever, occurs among these birds, and it appears to be uncertain how 

 far this is due to age and individual, and how far to geographical, 

 causes. 



The present species is found within our limits chiefly in 



