212 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
earth, and repeats this process until the reptile is either 
killed or wearied out; when he breaks open its skull by 
means of his beak, and tears it in pieces with the assist- 
ance of his claws, or, if not too large, swallows it entire. 
Like the Eagles these birds live in pairs, and not in 
flocks ; they build their aiery, if so it may be termed, on 
the loftiest trees, or, where these are wanting, in the most 
bushy and tufted thickets. They run with extreme 
swiftness, trusting, when pursued, rather to their legs 
than to their wings; and as they are generally met with 
in the open country, it is with difficulty that they can 
be approached sufficiently near for the sportsman to 
obtain a shot at them. They are natives of the south of 
Africa, and appear to be tolerably numerous in the 
neighbourhood of the Cape; where, it is said, they have 
been tamed to such a degree as to render them useful 
inmates of the poultry-yard, in which they not only 
destroy the snakes and rats which are too apt to intrude 
upon those precincts, but even contribute to the mainte- 
nance of peace among its more authentic inhabitants by 
interposing in their quarrels and separating the furious 
combatants who disturb it by their brawls. 
