SUBFAM. III]. = Prectroprerina, 
GENUS PLZLECTROPTERUS. 
The birds of this genus have the bill large, narrow at 
the apex, a strong hook at he tip, and an excrescence at the 
base ; the skin from the base of the bill to the eye being bare of 
feathers. The body is slender, the long neck carried straight, 
the thighs somewhat naked, the legs thick and strong, the feet 
powerful and armed with sharp claws, the toes connected by 
broad webs. The representatives of this genus are furnished 
with a sharp spur on the wing, which they use as a weapon 
of defence ; they are savage in disposition, biting fiercely when 
enraged. 
The Spur-winged Geese inhabit Africa, and are not 
migratory ; they breed in pairs, depositing four to seven eggs in 
a large nest on the ground near water, the male guarding the 
nest during incubation. Their plumage is black and white, and 
the voice is best described as a hoarse sibilant whisper. 
SPUR-WINGED OR GAMBIAN GOOSE. 
(Plectropterus gambensis ). 
This formidable bird, from ten to fifteen pounds in 
weight, is an inhabitant of North-West Africa, and is easily 
recognised by its great size, bare face, long strong legs, and 
spurred wing. 
Although Yarrell states that it has twice been shot in 
England, it cannot properly be reckoned as a visitor to our 
coasts. Like the Egyptian Goose, Plectropterus gambensts 
pairs, and in some solitary place constructs its nest, which is 
usually placed in a marsh. 
