io Wonders of the Bird World 



the Secretary Bird, which is, moreover, a thorough ground 

 Hawk in its ways. It is an inhabitant of the more open 

 country in Africa, and is everywhere protected on account 

 of its supposed utility in killing snakes, and especially 

 cobras. The latter it is said to approach with the wings 

 spread out in front of it to act as a shield, and from under 

 this protection it rains a shower of blows of extraordinary 

 power with its feet, and generally ends by crushing the 

 reptile in a very short time. Any one who has seen a 

 Secretary Bird strike a dead rat and reduce it to a pulp in 

 a few seconds, can bear witness to the hammer-like force 

 with which the bird brings down its feet on its victim. And 

 this is the more remarkable, because Mr. Layard says that 

 the young Secretaries have such brittle legs, that they snap, 

 if the birds are startled into a run. 



Stalking through the grass, the great height of the 

 Secretary, thanks to its long legs, enables it to take a wide 

 view of the surrounding country and it is thus able to 

 perceive its prey at a considerable distance. It at once 

 elevates its crest and spreads its wings, and in the contest 

 which ensues, the cobra will have but little chance, though 

 on some occasions the Secretary comes off second best, 

 and has been known to die from the poison of the snake, 

 should the latter succeed in drawing blood. The bird is 

 capable of swallowing snakes five or six feet in length 

 and four inches in diameter, and it also devours rats and 

 lizards, tortoises, as well as locusts and other insects. 



The South American Seriama {Cariama cristatd) is 

 a much smaller bird, and is an inhabitant of the open 

 Campos of south-eastern Brazil and Argentina. An 

 allied species, Burmeister's Seriama {Chunga burmeisteri), 

 is found in the province of Tucuman. Both forms of 

 Seriama are ground birds, and the common species inhabits 

 the grassy country, while the Chunga lives in the forest. 

 They have a harsh and screaming cry, and feed on insects 



