194 Mr. F. A. Barratt's Notes on the Birds 



me ; and by his advice I have applied myself on the present 

 occasion to the distribution of the birds through the different 

 districts traversed by me. I hope to revisit the Macamac 

 Gold-fields ; and I shall then pay even greater attention to the 

 birds^ now tliat I am aware of the interest that attaches to 

 them. The collection which I brought to England is a very 

 small one compared with that which the government of the 

 Orange Free State took from me as a contribution to the 

 forthcoming Philadelphia Exhibition. 



The nomenclature employed is that of Mr. Sharpens edi- 

 tion of Layard^s ' Birds of South Africa/ his ' Catalogue of 

 African Birds/ and of the first edition of Layard^s ' Birds of 

 South Africa.^ 



1. Otogyps auricularis. 



I killed a fine female specimen of this Vulture with a bullet 

 from behind a rock^ in the Orange Free State ; it had the ear- 

 lappets well developed, as have all the specimens which I have 

 noticed in South Africa. According to my experience they 

 do not associate with the other Vultures, but keep aloof, and 

 remain in pairs ; or a single bird may sometimes be seen on a 

 tree or rock. 



I kept one in confinement, which became exceedingly tame ; 

 and it was always able to hold its own against a tame baboon 

 which I kept in the same yard. 



2. Serpentarius secretarius. 



I have seen this bird near Lydenburg, Rustenberg, and 

 sparingly throughout my travels in the Transvaal and Free 

 State. They are preserved in both places ; and a heavy fine is 

 inflicted on any person found out by the authorities to have 

 shot one. The Secretary stalks about very majestically, and 

 now and then makes a pounce upon something, which he 

 swallows at once. I had two tame ones at my farm at Cha- 

 lumna, British Kafiraria, which used to run about the garden ; 

 but they were very weak on their legs. In attacking a snake 

 they would shade (or, rather, cover) the tibia with the wing, 

 and then strike with the lower part of the tarsus and foot ; 

 when the snake was stunned it would be seized by the back 



