68 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Tame secretaries. 



ground with such violence, that the creature was 

 immediately killed ; if, however, this did not 

 happen to be the case, the operation was repeated 

 till the victim was dispatched, after which it was 

 eaten. 



The female makes a flat nest with twigs, about 

 three feet in diameter, and lines it with wool and, 

 feathers. This is generally built in some high 

 tuft of trees, and is often so completely concealed, 

 as not to be discovered without considerable dif- 

 ficulty. 



The secretary may be easily tamed; and when 

 domesticated, will eat any kind of food, either 

 dressed or raw. If well fed, it not only lives 

 with poultry on amicable terms, but if it see any 

 quarrel, will even run to part the combatants and 

 restore order. When pinched with hunger, it 

 will devour the ducklings and chickens: but this 

 is merely tbe effect of imperious want, and the 

 simple exercise of that necessity which rigorously 

 devotes one half of the living creation to satisfy 

 the appetite of the rest. 



M. Le Vaillant informs us, that tame secreta- 

 ries are kept in several of the plantations at the 

 Cape. He says they commonly lay two or three 

 white eggs nearly as large as those of a goose. 

 The young remain a great while in the nest; be- 

 cause, from their legs being long and slender, 

 they cannot easily support themselves. Even at 

 the age of four months, they may be seen to walk 

 resting on the heel; which gives them a very 



