THE SECRETARY BIRD , 
V2 
bird would rise with a spring in the air, and descend some twenty feet from his foe. Advancing 
again to the attack, he seldom failed to dispose of his enemy by eating him at once, or he 
would carry him off wriggling vainly in attempts to escape. 
“The Secretary has a curious habit of occasionally breaking from his staid military step, 
and running in a fussy excited way for about ten or twelve paces, with apparently no object 
and again resuming his march. This bird is very wary, and rarely allows of a nearer approach 
than one hundred yards. He is rarely if ever shot, for a sportsman values the bird for its 
deeds, and there is a fine in the Cape Colony imposed upon those who are known to have 
shot one.’ 5 
SECRETARY BIRD. {Gypogeranus serpentarius.) 
In these combats the wing of the bird is its most important weapon, and answers equally 
all the purposes of a shield and a club. As the serpent rises to strike, the Secretary presents 
the front of its wing as a buckler, and almost immediately dashes the snake to the ground by 
a blow from the same member. It also kicks with considerable force, and almost invariably 
concludes the combat by a violent blow on the head from its beak, which lays the skull of the 
enemy completely open. Sometimes, when the serpent is very full of vitality, the Secretary 
makes a sudden snatch at its neck, soars to a great height in the air, carrying the struggling 
