BIRDS OF PREY. 63 



The Secretary Vultures live in pairs, each couple occupying a certain district, over which 

 they often hunt for hours together, seeking their food among the grass that covers the plains. 

 After having fully satisfied their hunger they retire to a quiet spot, and remain in a sort of 

 dreamy apathy, until the business of digestion is accomplished. Should one of those extensive 

 conflagrations break out by which the arid plains of Central Africa are so frequently cleared, 

 these birds at once congregate in large numbers and hurry to the spot, in order to enjoy the rich 

 feast thus afforded them. Keeping close to the line of fire, they seize upon and destroy the 

 hosts of living things that are driven forth by the huge clouds of smoke, and thus spend whole 

 hours retreating before the advancing fire, and contesting their prey with the devouring flames : 

 so voracious are they that Le Vaillant assures us he found no fewer than twenty-one small tortoises, 

 eleven lizards, three snakes, and a mass of grasshoppers, in the crop of a specimen he had killed ; 

 snakes of all kinds are the objects of their constant attacks, and the same author gives the following 

 graphic account of an encounter between a Crane Vulture and one of the most deadly species of 

 these formidable reptiles : — 



"Should the snake assume a threatening attitude, and appear ready to inflict a wound, the 

 bird spreads one of its wings, and holding it like a buckler before the foot with which it is going 

 to transfix its prey, hops backwards and forwards in a variety of strange attitudes. Each attempt 

 to bite is received upon the- feathered shield, and when the enemy, finding all its efforts useless, 

 becomes exhausted, it receives either a stunning blow or is cast into the air, as a preliminary to 

 being bitten through the nape, after which it is swallowed either entire or in large pieces. It is 

 supposed by some that the Crane Vulture is proof against the^ venom of snakes, as it certainly 

 does not reject their poisonous fangs, and we have never heard of an instance in which it has been 

 killed by a bite inflicted during one of these terrible battles." About June or July furious quarrels 

 arise among the birds themselves relative to the choice of a mate, the disputed female becoming 

 the prize of the most powerful of the rivals, and the pair at once commence the work of preparation 

 for a young family. The eyrie is built upon a high tree or thick bush (generally a mimosa), and 

 constructed of branches, plastered together with clay ; the very shallow, almost flat, interior of 

 the nest is lined with cotton-wool, feathers, and other soft materials. One of these structures is 

 often employed for many years by the same couple, such repairs as are necessary being made at 

 every recurring breeding season ; and it is no uncommon thing for the branches of which the outer 

 walls of the nest are formed to sprout afresh and spread, until the eyrie becomes literally a leafy 

 bower of great beauty. Whilst repairing their dwelling, the pair pass the night in its interior, but 

 the eggs are not laid until the month of August ; these are two or three in number, and about the 

 same size as those of a Goose, but somewhat rounder ; the shell is either pure white or slightly marked 

 with little red spots. The young are not hatched until after an incubation of about six weeks, 

 and make their appearance covered with a coat of beautiful snow white down ; at first they are 

 perfectly helpless, and for a long time remain so weak upon their legs as to be quite unable to 

 quit the nest, in which they sometimes remain for six months. If carefully trained, the Secretary 

 Vulture soon becomes so tame that it may be permitted to run about a farm-yard, where it lives 

 on the most friendly terms with the poultry, and we are told on good authority that, so far from being 

 a troublesome member of the community, this bird not only interferes should a couple of Hens 

 become quarrelsome and try to peck each other, but that it renders important services by clearing 

 away intruding rats and snakes. On this account these birds are so much esteemed at the Cape 

 of Good Hope that a severe penalty is inflicted if one of them is killed. Many and various are 

 the names applied to this species by the natives of the different countries in which it is common ; 

 by some it is known as the " Devil's Steed," by others as the " Bird of Fate." We must own that 



