90 



HABITS OF THE SECEETAEY BIRD. 



made a fierce attack, the 

 bird would rise with a 

 spring in the air, and 

 descend some twenty feet 

 from his foe. Advancing 

 again to the attack, he 

 seldom failed to dispose 

 of his enemy by eating 

 him at once, or he would 

 carry him off wriggling 

 vainly in attempts to es- 

 cape. 



The Secretary has a 

 curious habit of occa- 

 sionally breaking from his 

 staid military step, and 

 running in a fussy excited 

 way for about ten or 

 twelve paces, with appa- 

 rently no object, and 

 again resuming his march. 

 This bird is very wary, 

 and rarely allows of a 

 nearer approach than one 

 hundred yards. He is 

 rarely if ever shot, for a 

 sportsman values the bird 

 for its deeds, and there is 

 a fine in the Cape Colony 

 imposed upon those who 

 are known to have shot 

 one." 



In these combats the 

 wing of the bird is its 

 most important weapon, 

 and answers equally all the 

 purposes of a shield and 

 a club. As the serpent 

 rises to strike, the Secre- 

 tary presents the front 

 of its wing as a buckler, 

 and almost immediately 

 dashes the snake to the 

 ground by a blow from 

 the same member. It 

 also kicks with consider- 

 able force, and almost in- 

 variably concludes the 

 combat by a violent blow 

 on the head from its beak, 



wliicli lays the skull of the enemy completely open. Sometimes, when the serpent is 

 very full of vitality, the Secretary makes a sudden snatch at its neck, soars to a great 

 height in the air, carrying the struggling foe with it, and then drops it upon the hard 

 ground, a process which effectually expels the last remnant of life. When domesticated 

 it has been known to go through a similar series of manoeuvres, by way of game- 

 someness ; the snake being represented for the nonce by a straw or a twig. 





SECRETARY BIRD. SeipeiMrius Secretariut 



