266 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



and an inch in thickness, eleven Lizards of seven or eight inches in length, and twenty-one small 

 Tortoises of about two inches in diameter, besides a large quantity of Grasshoppers or Locusts, and 

 other insects. 



A spirited and truthful account of the habits of the Secretary was published in 1856 by the late 

 M. Jules Verreaux, who spent upwards of fifteen years in South Africa engaged in a study of the 

 natural history of that part of the world, and a few extracts from this paper cannot be resisted.* 



SECRETARY BIRD. 



" As Nature exhibits foresight in all that she does, she has given to each animal its means of preserva- 

 tion. Thus the Secretary Bird has been modelled on a plan appropriate to its mode of life ; and it is 

 therefore for this purpose that, owing to the length of its legs and tarsi, its piercing eye is able 

 to discover at a long distance the prey which, in anticipation of its appearance, is stretched on the 

 sand or amongst the thick grass. The elegant and majestic form of the bird becomes now even more 

 graceful ; it now brings into action all its cunning in order to surprise the Snake which it is going to 

 attack ; therefore it approaches with the greatest caution. The elevation of the feathers of the neck and 

 back of the head shows when the moment for attack has arrived. It throws itself with such force on 

 the reptile that very often the latter does not survive the first blow. But if the bird does not succeed, 



* Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 185G, p. 348. 



