50 PLECTROPTERUS GAMBENSIS 



Adult Female: Like the male, but smaller, weighing from 6.5 to 7.5 pounds (2.9 to 3.4 kilograms) 

 (Hollister in litt.). 



Young Birds have the face entirely feathered and no frontal knob. 



Young in Down: Very pale yellow-brown all over, almost buff on the lower side (some specimens 

 which I saw at Tring were darker above) . There is no distinct face pattern, but light patches on wing 

 rudiments, scapular region, and sides of rump are well developed, besides a white area along the sides 

 which may almost merge with the rump patches. Thus the pattern approaches that seen in the young 

 of the sheldrakes (Tadorna). Carpal spur well developed. Iris brownish gray, feet gray, bill gray 

 except along the lamella? where it is red. 



DISTRIBUTION 



The range of this species includes the entire area south of the Sahara, exclusive of Madagascar. 

 There is apparently no migration proper, so that summer and winter range will be considered at the 

 Range : same time. Like many other African birds it does, however, show seasonal changes in 



general distribution, depending upon the dry and the wet seasons; but our knowledge of these 



flights is of course very limited. 



In the West it has been recorded for Senegal (Lichtenstein, 1854) and Gambia, having occurred at 

 Bathurst (Rendall, 1892). It is said to be not rare and to breed in domesticity (?) in the Senegam- 

 _ . . bian region and Casamance (Rochebrune, 1883-85). Sousa has reported it for Bissao, 



Portuguese Guinea, and though there are no records for either French Guinea or 

 Sierra Leone, I think very likely that it occurs there, for it has been found breeding on 

 Gulf of £ ne M ar f a River, western Liberia (Biittikofer, 1885). There is no evidence of its oc- 



currence on the Ivory Coast, though it may be found there. In general the species ap- 

 pears to be rare on the Guinea Coast and in western Africa. J. Smith (fide Reichenow, 1900) has 

 reported it from Accra on the Gold Coast, and there are records for both Mangu and Kratschi in 

 Togoland (Reichenow, 1899b; 1897). I have been unable to discover any information of its occur- 

 „. . rence in Dahomey. In Nigeria it is found in Sokoto (Hartert, 1886), and on the Niger 



(Baikie, fide Reichenow, 1900), while on the Benue it is common and a few are found 

 also at Yo (B. Alexander, 1907). From Lake Chad it has been recorded also by Denham and Clapper- 

 ton (1826). So far as I know, it has not yet been recorded from Camerun or the French Congo, and 

 Mr. J. P. Chapin, of the American Museum Expedition (in litt., 1914) found it very rare, as were all 

 other water-fowl, in the Upper Congo forests. 



Eastward, however, the Spur-wing is common in the Sudan. It appears to migrate locally as the 

 season varies, but is in most months fairly common everywhere south of Khartum (Butler, 1905), 

 o , though apparently not of frequent occurrence in the Southwest (Butler, 1908). It has 



been recorded for the White Nile a number of times (Witherby, 1901; Ogilvie-Grant, 

 1902; Antinori, 1864; Sassi, 1906; Jagerskiold, 1904). Antinori, however, states that it is more 

 common on the Blue than on the White Nile, but I found it almost absent there in the winter season. 

 A. E. Brehm (1857) and Kotschy (fide Reichenow, 1900) both met with it at Senaar. Von Heuglin 

 (1873) took young birds in Kordofan, so it presumably breeds in that region. He saw the birds 

 south even in Bahr-el-Ghazal, and Antinori states that they are not rare in that section. It has also 

 been noted in Abyssinia where von Heuglin found it on Lake Tana. Riippell (1845) and Salvadori 

 (1884; 1888) have recorded it from Shoa, and Reid (Ogilvie-Grant and Reid, 1901) saw the birds 

 in pairs on Lake Ailan near Addis-Ababa, and states that there were large flocks at the junction 

 of the Moggoi and Hauash Rivers. Von Erlanger in 1905 also found it on the lower Hauash. 

 Whether or not it occurs in eastern Abyssinia or in Somaliland, I am unable to say, but it would 

 scarcely be more than a rare bird in this desert region. 



