108 Mr. Alwin Haagner o?i 



The young bird is duller in tone, the tail-coverts, both 

 upper and lower, and the upper wing-coverts being marked 

 with subterminal brown spots. Abdomen and thighs barred 

 with whitish. Iris pale. The nestling is covered with a 

 white down. 



These birds are not easy to rear, owing to the brittleness 

 o£ their legs. Even with great care in feeding, and no 

 handling at all, the legs will be found set at all angles, or 

 variously deformed. Even when just full-grown, their legs 

 seem liable to break for no apparent reason — perhaps merely 

 from a startled run against wire-netting. 



The following are amongst the recorded localities where it 

 has been seen in South Africa : — 



Cape Province : Bredasdorp and Middelburg [S. A. 

 Museum), Queenstown [Haagner), Kingwilliamstown [Pym), 

 Hanover (Shortridf/e), Matatiele and Pondoland (Davies), 

 Albany (Haagner' Sf- Ivy). 



Natal : Balgowan (^4. Roherts in litt.), CUiarlcstovvn 

 (Flaagner S,- Dr. Briscoe in litt.). 



Orange Free State : Kroonstad {Dr. Symonds'), Moroka 

 District and Brandfort (^Haagner). 



Transvaal : Irene [L. E. Taylor), Indhlovodwalilie (Swazi- 

 land Border, C. II. Taylor), Potchefstroom [Roherts), Volks- 

 rust (Haagner), Johannesburg, Modderfontein, and Pretoria 

 (Haagner) . 



Hhodesia : Zambesi (Soiverhy), Bulawayo (Chubh). 



The Secretary Bird is a resident, at times migrating from 

 one locality to another in search of food, &c. It may 

 generally be seen stalking solemnly about the open veld, 

 singly or in pairs, in search of its food. This consists of 

 snakes, lizards, tortoises, frogs, small rodents, young birds, 

 and large insects, especially grasshoppers and locusts. It 

 was at first rigorously protected by law on account of its 

 snake-eating habits, buL latterly sportsmen have been raising 

 an outcry against this, on the ground that the Secretary Bird 

 devours more young quail and francolin than snakes. 



They kill their prey by stamping on it with the foot, 

 holding their wings outspread as a sort of shield. Two birds 



