130 NATURAL HISTORY. 
ing his opponent, when with a sudden scream, probably 
of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish. 
The Eagle, poising himself for a moment, as if to take a 
more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it 
‘in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill- 
gotten booty silently away to the woods.” Dr. Franklin 
thus speaks of this Eagle: ‘“ For my part, I wish the Bald 
Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our 
country. He is a bird of bad moral character; he does 
not get his living honestly. You may have seen him 
perched upon some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for 
himself, he watches for the labors of the Fishing Hawk; 
and when that diligent bird has taken a fish, and is bear- 
ing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young 
ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. 
With all this injustice, he is never in good case, but, like 
those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he 
is generally poor, and very often lousy. Besides, he is a 
rank coward; the little king-bird, not bigger than a spar- 
row, attacks him boldly and drives him out of the dis- 
trict. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for 
the brave and honest Cincinnati of America, who have 
driven out all the Aing-birds from our country, though 
exactly fitted for that order of knights which the French 
call chevaliers d’industrie.” 
222. The Secretary Bird, Fig. 108 (p. 131), derives its 
name from the tufts of feathers at the back of its head, 
having some resemblance to pens stuck behind the ear. 
It is allied both to the Eagles and the Falcons, but its 
exact place is a subject of dispute. It inhabits South 
Africa, Senegambia, and the Philippine Islands. It lives 
on snakes and reptiles, which it devours in great numbers. 
When attacking a snake, it uses one wing as a shield, 
striking the snake with the other till it is senseless; 
then, with a blow with its beak, it splits the snake’s 
head, and swallows the animal. In the crop of one of 
those birds there were found eleven large lizards, three 
