CARNIVOROUS BIRDS 



47 



account it is protected by the local governments. The following 

 account, taken from Verreaux, describes in a spirited manner the 

 bird's tactics when attacking a snake: — "As nature exhibits fore- 

 sight in all that she does, she has given to each animal its means 

 of preservation. Thus the Secretary Bird has be'en modelled on 



Fig, 338. — A Secretary- Bird [Serpeniarius secretaries) attacking a Snake 



a plan appropriate to its mode of life, and it is therefore for this 

 purpose that, owing to the length of its legs and tarsi, its piercing 

 eye is able to discover at a long distance the prey which, in anti- 

 cipation of its appearance, is stretched on the sand or among the 

 thick grass. The elegant and majestic form of the bird becomes 

 now even more graceful ; it now brings into action all its cunning 

 in order to surprise the snake which it is going to attack; there- 

 fore it approaches with the greatest caution. The elevation of 



