424 
HAKPER’S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
' more abinidantl}' supplied with legs. 
With these it can outstrip hound or hare. 
What better sport, then, for mounted 
hunters than by chasing it with fleet 
hounds to see how near they can come to 
overtaking it! 
Having thus placed one large good 
mark to the credit of the cuckoos, we will 
leave them and America at a bound, and 
i*eturn to Africa, where lives a guardian 
bird of vastly different size and style, but 
which lends itself to the service of man in 
much the same wa^' as the paisano. This 
is the seci’etary-bird, so called from an 
odd tuft of feathers formiug its crest and 
quaintly resembling quill pens thrust be¬ 
hind the ear. 
The secretary-bird {Serpentarius secre- 
tarius), or crane - vulture, as it is also 
called, in the effort to describe the two or¬ 
ders to which it seems to belong, is a 
strange creation. It has the long legs of 
the cranes, making it nearly four feet 
high, but the facial appearance of the vul¬ 
tures. In its habits it is a true bird of 
prey, for, according to Levaillant, it is 
never happier than when a 
prairie fire, by driving all 
sorts of game out of covert, 
enables it to follow the ad¬ 
vance line of the flames, and 
strike down and greedily de¬ 
vour the unfortunate fugi¬ 
tives. 
Snakes of the venomous 
kind are, however, its favor¬ 
ite articles of food, and these 
it kills with an address equal 
to its courage. Whether or 
not it is proof against snake 
poison is not known; but it 
has never been known to die 
from the effects of an encoun¬ 
ter, and it is therefore sur¬ 
mised that either it is so proof 
or that it is careful not to be 
bitten in a fleshy part. 
It makes no hesitation 
about attacking the most poi¬ 
sonous snake, and invariably 
comes off victor. If the snake 
give battle, the secretary low¬ 
ers one of its large wings so as 
to serve as a shield, and then 
hops about with great agility 
until it sees a favorable oppor¬ 
tunity for tossing the reptile 
in the air. Every attempt 
made by the snake to bite is 
foiled by the skillfully inter¬ 
posed wing, upon whose fea¬ 
thered surface the poison 
seems to fall harmless. AVhen 
the snake finally becomes ex¬ 
hausted, it is quickly killed by 
an adroit bite through the nape of the 
neck. It is then swallowed whole, if small 
enough, or, if not, in as large pieces as pos¬ 
sible. 
Although iudigenous to Africa, the 
good offices of this bird have not been 
confined to that country. Nearly half a 
century ago it was introduced into the 
French West Indies for the express pur¬ 
pose of waging war upon the rattlesnake. 
The object was attained, foi* the bird 
throve, and performed tlie duties of its of¬ 
fice with great credit to itself, and to the 
satisfaction of its human proteges. 
