25<5 TRAVELS IN 
rigoroully devotes one half of what has breath 
to fatisfy the appetite of the other. 
I have feen thefe tame fecretarles In feveral 
plantations. They commonly lay two or three 
eggs, nearly as large as thofe of a goofe, and 
as white as thofe of a hen. The young re- 
main a long time in the neft, becaufe, their 
legs being long and (lender, they cannot eafily 
fupport themfelves. Even at the age of four 
months they may be feen unable to walk with- 
out refting on the heel, which gives them a 
very awkward appearance. However, as their 
toes are not fo long, and their claws not fo 
crooked, as thofe of other rapacious birds, they 
walk with more eafe than thefe. Accordingly, 
when they are feven months eld, and have at- 
tained their full growth and fize, they difplay 
much grace and eafe in their motions, which 
well accord with their ftately figure. Vofmaer 
kept a fecretary for fome time at the Hague ; 
and he wrote on the bird, from the obfervations 
which this living fpecimen enabled him to 
make. Buffon, quoting the Dutch naturalift, 
fays after him : " When the painter was em- 
" ployed in defigning it, the bird drew near 
" him, 
