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THE SERPENT-BIRD, 
Central and Southern Africa, and to pass his life on the ground. He 
shuns the forests and the mountains, and drives from his haunts the 
terrestrial animals. His high-raised tarsi are characteristic. He 
makes excellent use of them, and runs more swiftly than any other 
bird of prey. With body erect he walks for miles, and shows no signs 
of fatigue. When pursued or in pursuit, he runs, with body inclined 
in front, almost as quickly as a bustard ; and he is always unwiUrng 
to resort to his wings as an aid in locomotion. Befoi'e flying he 
takes a spring, and he seems to experience much difficulty in rising 
from the ground; but when he has once attained a certain elevation, 
he hovers for a long time without once flapping his wings. 
Naturalists seem agreed that the secretary-birds live in pairs, and 
that each pair inhabits a domain of considerable extent. They are 
found everywhere, yet are very difficult to discover. For long hours 
the bird prowls among the thick grasses which cover the plains and 
hide him from view ; then he rises suddenly before the horseman, who 
has not even suspected his presence. When his appetite is satisfled, 
he retires to some open spot, where he remains immovable, digesting 
his repast. However, he is never imprudent; always on his guard 
before man, he sees in every stranger an enemy from whom he must 
flee. 
Occasionally the serpent-birds assemble in great numbers. Just 
before the annual rains the Bushmen kindle the dried herbage of the 
wilderness, and the devouring flames, extending over many miles, drive 
before them all the animals that have found refuge there. Then these 
birds gather together, and hold high revelry all along the line of fire. 
The serpent or secretary bird — which shall we call him ? — preys 
chiefly upon reptiles, and is famous for his almost insatiable voracity. 
Le Vaillant says that he killed a male bird, in the stomach of which 
he found twenty-one smaU tortoises entire, several upwards of two 
inches in diameter; eleven lizards seven to eight inches long; and 
three serpents as long as a man's arm, and an inch thick. There were 
also "a multitude" of grasshoppers and other insects, many undigested. 
Each of the serpents, lizards, and tortoises had a hole in its head. Le 
Vaillant further discovered in the ample stomach of this much-devour- 
