THE SECRETARY BIRD. 647 



one of his wings, holds it in front of him, and covers both his legs 

 as well as the lower part of his body with it as if with a buckler. 

 The reptile makes a spring at his enemy ; the bird makes a bound, 

 and spurning the Serpent with his wing, retreats again, jumping 

 about in every direction in a mode which to a spectator appears 

 highly grotesque. He soon returns to the combat, ever presenting 

 to the venomous tooth of his adversary nothing but the end of his 

 well-protected wing ; and whilst the latter is fruitlessly expending 

 its poison by biting the callous feathers, the bird is inflicting 

 vigorous blows with his other wing. At last the reptile, stunned 

 and wavering, rolls at full length in the dust ; the bird then 

 cleverly catches hold of it and throws it several times up into the 

 air, until the victim becoming exhausted and powerless, the bird 

 crushes its skull with his sharp-pointed bill. The Serpent is then 

 swallowed whole by its conqueror, unless it is too big, in which 

 case it is first torn in pieces." 



The Secretary Bird does not feed exclusively on serpents ; it 

 also consumes lizards, tortoises, and even insects ; its voracity is 

 extreme, and it possesses a power of digestion which is really sur- 

 prising. Levaillant killed one the stomach of which contained 

 twenty-one small tortoises, still whole ; eleven lizards, eight or 

 nine inches long ; three serpents of a length varying from two to 

 two and a half feet ; a perfect heap of grasshoppers and other 

 insects ; and, lastly, a great pellet of various remains, which it 

 had not been able to assimilate, and which would have ultimately 

 been vomited up. 



These birds are natives of the arid plains of South Africa. 

 They pair about the month of July, the male birds having first 

 engaged in sanguinary conflicts for the choice of their mates. 

 Their nest, which is flat, and lined on the inside with down and 

 feathers, is constructed in the thickest bushes, or on the loftiest 

 trees, in which two or three eggs, of a white hue spotted with 

 red, are laid. The young ones are very late in quitting the 

 parental home ; for they do not leave it till they have acquired 

 full development. Nearly four months elapse before they are able 

 to stand firmly and run about with complete freedom. 



The Secretary Bird is much appreciated at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, on account of the services it renders in destroying 



