772 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



eggs ; and, as in the case of the seriema, the young remain in the 

 nest for a great length of time, being quite helpless at three or 

 four months of age. Many of them have been reared as pets, and 

 in some localities are useful in destroying vermin about the prem- 



Fki. 6. The Secretauy Bird (Gupogerauus ner pent arms). 



ises. Gypogeranus lives chiefly upon reptiles and insects, and in 

 nature will kill and devour the most venomous species of snakes. 

 A great deal has been written about this last-named habit, and 

 it is the one which has given the bird its popular notoriety. 

 When it meets a big snake of the most venomous variety it will 

 at once advance upon it with stately strides and commence the 

 attack. It will strike the reptile with its knobbed wings and kick 

 forward at it with its feet, until its victim is completely worn out 

 by its fruitless attempts to withstand such an onset, whereupon the 

 merciless victor pounces upon it, crushes its head with a blow from 

 its powerful beak, and at once proceeds to devour its prey. These 

 heronlike falcons are distributed over the greater part of Africa,* 

 Speaking of the herons, and while we are still in Africa, I de- 

 sire to call attention to two other strange outliers, both of which 

 are found in that country. 



* They doubtless represent ;i tyiie winch, littK' iiiodiHod in time, has descended from 

 some generalized ancestor, long since extinct, and from u hich not only the Aicijiitrex (fal- 

 cons and their kin), the storks, and herons have been derived, but also the seriema. Gyj^o- 

 gcranus should be retained in the suborder Accipltrcs as a superfamily (jypogcranoidea . 



