THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 121 



a rather broad edging of slatey brown lining the upper and lower 



portions of the wing.'] 

 Found only in the Eastern districts of the Cape Colony and Natal, 

 and is very rare.* 



wiIaD fowl. 



The Spup-Winged Goose {Plectropterus gambensis). Fig. 63, 

 Plate XII.— Vilde Macauw of the Dutch ; Peelee Peelee of the 

 Bechuanas.) 



IBack black, tinged with copper; upper portion of wings dark 

 green, the under portion mottled with white; fore part of head bare 

 of feathers, the skin of which and bill are dark crimson; legs, flesh 

 coloured; chin, lower portion of breast and belly, pure white.'] 



This very fine bird, which derives its name through being furnished 

 on the shoulders of each wing with a strong sharp spur often 

 considerably exceeding an inch in .length, is capable of being 

 domesticated without difficulty, and is the largest of the African 

 Geese.t The reedy margins of Lake 'Ngami and the marshes of 

 the Okavango, Chobe, and Zambesi are its true home, where it 

 breeds in enormous quantities. Half-a-dozen broods were hatched 

 last year in the numerous vkys surrounding Vaalpen's Pan, about 

 thirty miles from Mafeking. When the pans and vleys are filled 

 with water after periods of heavy rain, they forsake the impenetrable 

 swamps, and generally in couples scatter all over the country, seldom, 

 however, straying so far South as the Orange River, being rarely 

 met with along rapid streams with pebbly bottoms. The broods 

 usually number from eight to twelve, the old birds remaining with 

 their progeny for the remainder of the season following the nesting. 

 They do not feed in the day, but may be then observed at rest on 

 the open water or standing motionless on some dry bank, rocky 

 prominence, or island. When on the wing they continuously utter 

 a low hissing noise, and shortly after sundown, just before darkness 

 sets in, leave their day resorts and fly to the feeding ground, which 

 is generally some very shallow pan or swamp overgrown with grass, 



* Another species is said to frequent portions of Mashonaland, known as the Ver- 

 micTilated Thick-Knee ((Edicnemus vermiculatus).' 



t Specimens have been obtained weighing 15 lbs. 



