5 fe) 
10. 
BOLD 
Y. 
DESCRIPTION. 
V aC a | Ty Rs 
erafp its victim; on which account it makes ufe of its wings, with 
which it beats whatever it attacks with great violence ; this it has 
the power to do, by means of a bony protuberance at the bend of the 
wing, enabling the bird to ftrike moft deftructive blows with that 
part; and it is with their wings that they defend themfelves againft 
venomous fnakes, by fometimes oppofing one wing and fometimes 
the other, whereby they evade the bites of thofe which might other- 
wife prove mortal, till the enemy being tired with its efforts, or - 
bruifed nearly to death with blows, becomes an eafy prey. Young 
turtles and lizards alfo bear part in the food of the Secretary Vulture ; 
and even grafshoppers and other infects are at times not rejected by 
it. Thefe birds are not unfrequently kept tame, and in this ftate no 
food comes amifs to them: if young birds are offered, they take 
them by the bill foremoft, and {wallow them whole. One of thofe 
which M. Levaillant killed, had twenty-one young turtles, eleyen 
{mall lizards, and three {nakes in his ftomach: like other birds of 
prey, it is obferved to bring up the undigefted parts of its food, in 
the fhape of round pellets. In pairing time, two males will often be 
found fighting for a female in a violent manner. Thefe birds make 
a flat kind of neft, like that of an eagle, full three feet in diameter, 
lined with wool and feathers, in fome high tuft of trees, and often 
conceal it fo effectually as not eafily to be found. The female 
differs in that fhe inclines more to grey, with a fhorter creft, and the 
two middle ‘tail feathers fhorter than thofe of the male. 
HE fize of this bird is uncertain: the bill is pale yellow, with 
the tip black: the plumage wholly of a deep brown; but the 
fides of the head are bare as far as the eyes, and fomewhat beneath 
them, and the colour of thefe parts very pale: the quills and tail are 
of a darker colour than the reft of the body, being nearly black: 
the fhins are covered with feathers quite to the toes; Ach colour 
dotted with black. 
This 
