THE SNAKE AND ITS NATURAL FOES. 389 



to a great elevation, and then drop it on to the hard ground, rendering- 

 it helpless." 



Order— Striges. — Blanford* tells us that the rock horned owl (Bubo 

 bengalensis) lives on rats, mice, birds, lizards, and snakes, and what is 

 true of this owl is in all probability true of many others. 



Order — Accipitres. — Sub-family — Gypogeranidse. — Many species of 

 this order include snakes in their dietary. The Secretary bird (Serpen- 

 tarius reptilivorous) is, I believe, included in the order, and has a world- 

 renowned reputation for destroying these creatures. It is said to dis- 

 able them by blows from its wings and feet, and is also reported to 

 carry them aloft, and kill them by dropping them. Le Vaillant, who 

 once killed one, found, on investigating its crop, that it had eaten 

 " eleven rather large lizards, three serpents of an arm's length, and 

 eleven small tortoises, besides a number of locusts, beetles, and other 

 insects." 



Sub-family — Falconinfe. — Among Indian birds of this sub-family that 

 are known to evince serpentivorous tastes are, according to Blanford, t 

 the Indian tawny eagle (Aquila vindhiana), the short-toed eagle 

 (Circaetus gallicus), the crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela), 

 Pallas's fishing eagle (Haliaetus leucoryphus), the white-bellied sea 

 eagle (Haliaetus leucogaster), the rufous winged buzzard eagle (Bu- 

 tastur liventer), the pied harrier ( Circus melanoleucus), Fielden's hawk 

 (Poliohierax insignis). Mr. Mackinnon recently told me that on one 

 occasion he saw a Circaetus gallicus descend into some long grass where 

 it remained some time. Out of curiosity he walked it up, and shot 

 it as it rose. On opening its crop he found 7 snakes, one still alive. 

 They were all of the same species (one of the genus psammophis). 

 AitkenJ says of the sea eagle (Haliaetus leucogaster) that it lives 

 chiefly on sea serpents, and Oantor§ remarks that in two of this 

 species shot in the Gangetic Delta he found remains of sea serpents. 



Kites are known to eat snakes at times. I have myself seen the 

 common pariah kite (Milvus govinda) stoop into a marsh, and rise 

 with a snake wriggling in its talons, and it is probably this species that 



• Fauna, Brit. Ind.: Aves, Vol.111, p. 286. 

 t Fauna, Brit. Ind.: Ave3, Vol. III. 

 J " The Common Birds of Bombay, " p. 2G. 

 § Trans. Zool. Soc, London, 1840, p. 308. 



