SECRE TAR Y-BIRD. 



265 



The name secretary comes from the long and beautiful black or gray plumes 

 which spring from the back of the head, and might suggest, to a person of consid- 

 erable imagination, a bunch of quills stuck over a clerk's ear. The secretary is 

 remarkable not less for the reptilivorous propensities which have given it the other 

 name of serpent-eater than for its singular personal appearance. 



Its length from bill to tip of tail is over four feet, but just about half of this is tail, 

 while the neck is longer in proportion than in any other bird of the entire order, thus 

 leaving but a small fraction of the whole length for the body. This is itself quite 

 slender and mounted on strong legs longer than those of a sand-hill crane, the tarsus 

 alone being at least thirteen inches in length. The general color of the adult is a 

 clear, light gray, the sides of head and throat with some white streaks. The winu's, 

 lower back, thighs, and abdomen are black, while the breast and tail-coverts are white. 

 Finally, the cere and bare skin about the eye are yellow, and the legs and feet are of a 

 dull flesh-color. 



Although a well-known bird throughout nearly the whole of South Africa, it seems 

 to be nowhere very abundant, travelers of late years statins; that it is unusual to see 



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more than two or three pairs in the course of a day's riding in any part of the country, 

 and they are usually so shy as to be approached only with great difficulty. Although 

 the wings are very long and strong, it is rare to see the birds flying, and under ordinary 

 circumstances they are seen stalking about in pairs with a most deliberate gait. 

 If pursued, they first endeavor to escape by running, which they do easily and with 

 surprising swiftness, only taking wing when pushed very hard. 



The farmers of the Cape frequently domesticate secretaries, and they are said 

 readily to become tame and familiar. In most of the settled parts of the country they 

 are closely protected by law, and heavy fines are imposed for killing them. Their 

 favorite food is said to be frogs and toads, but they seem to be always hungry, and so 

 never very notional about their food, if it only be abundant. Le Vaillant records that 

 the stomach of one which he examined contained eleven rather large lizards, eleven 

 small tortoises, a great number of insects, mostly entire, and three snakes as thick as a 



man's arm. 



In attacking a snake it would seem that they never pounce upon it from a height, 

 in the manner of hawks and eagles, but first alight at a little distance and then stride 

 up to the attack. These combats must be extremely interesting if we can believe the 

 accounts of eye-witnesses. 



When the snake strikes, the bird either evades the blow by skipping to one side or 

 the other, jumping backward, or springing into the air, or else, as frequently happens, 

 he simply receives the venomous thrust of his antagonist on the broad, stiff feathers 

 of the outer half of the long wing, with which he knocks the reptile down, following 

 up the fall with a vigorous kick. His extreme agility enables him in a very short time 

 to baffle and overcome a snake of four or five feet in length, whereupon he finally 

 seizes him near the head with his bill, and, holding the body down with one foot 

 proceeds to swallow him. In case a snake proves unusually hard to manage on 

 the ground, the dauntless bird watches his opportunity, seizes his adversary 

 close to the head, and, flying aloft to a considerable height, lets him drop on the 

 hard ground, which is usually sufficient to prepare him for the final ceremony of 

 swallowing. 



The nest, which is quite bulky, is always placed on the top of a lofty tree when 

 one is to be found, but in scantily wooded regions a bush usually serves the same 



