Feet and Legs 



379 



"When the snake strikes, the bird either evades the 

 blow, by skipping to one side or the other, jumping back- 

 ward, or springing into the air, or else, as frequently hap- 

 pens, he simply receives the venomous thrusts of his 

 antagonist on the broad stiff feathers of the outer half 



Fig. 297.— Secretary Bird. 



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, w^hereupon 

 he finall)^ seizes it near the head with his bill, and hold- 



