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F A L C O. 
itig its biteby fudden or repeated lea-ps and fptings. But, 
inftead of claws, fo ufefitl to birds of prey, the wings are 
furnillted with large bony prominences, which, though 
blunt and rounded, are perfedlly fuited to the purpofes of 
offence and defence. Thus armed, this bird will attack 
an enemy no lefs formidable than the atrox or furious vi- 
perof Africa. See the article Coluber, vol. iv. p.805. 
If it retreats, the bird follows, feeming to fly as it fkirns 
the ground ; yet it does not expand its wings, as the 
ollrich is faid to do, but ref’erves them for the fight. The 
ferpent, if overtaken at a diftance from his hole, flops, 
raif'es its lofty creft, and endeavours to intimidate the bird 
bvprefenting its forked tongue, and fending forth a fharp 
hifs. Then the bird, dropping one of his wings, trails it be¬ 
fore him, covering with it, as with a fhield, his legs, and 
the lower part of his body. The ferpent, upon being at¬ 
tacked, darts forward ; the bird bounds up, flrikes, retires, 
gets behind, jumps about in all diredtions in a manner that 
would appear ludicrous to a fpedtator : ftill returning to 
the charge, he prefents the extremity of his wing to the 
venomous tooth of his adverfary ; and, while the ferpent 
vainly endeavours to injure that bony prominence, the bird 
keeps bartering him with the other wing. At length, 
flunned'by a blow, the reptile flaggers, and rolls on tire 
grbund, whence the bird toffes him up feveral times, till 
thoroughly exhaufted, and then difpatches him with his 
bill, and tears him piecemeal, in the confequent rep-aft af¬ 
ter his vidtory. Sharp claws would not avail againft the 
iiippery fcales and plated armour of thefe ferpents ; the 
bony excrefcences On the wings are much more formida¬ 
ble ; for repeated ftrokes never fail to ftun the ferpent; 
and fometimes the vertebrae are broken by the firft blow. 
This bird feeds alfo upon lizards, which make little re- 
fiftance; alfo upon fmall tortoifes, which he fwallows 
whole, after breaking the fliell and fkull-bone; and the 
young make great havock among grafshoppers and other 
infedis. In a domeftic ftate, the ferpent-eater may be fed 
upon any kind of meat, raw or dreffed, and upon fifh : 
he fwallows young fowls and fmall birds entire, feathers 
and all, taking them in head foremoft; but in a ftate of 
nature, Vaillant fuppofes it does not attack birds. That 
eminent ornithologift fliot a male, which had in its crop 
twenty-one little tortoifes, whole, feveral of them about 
two inches in diameter, eleven lizards feven or eight 
inches long, and three ferpents an inch thick and as long 
as a man’s arm ; befides a quantity of grafshoppers and 
other infedts ; many of them fo perfedt and entire, that 
Vaillant prelerved them in his colledtion : the ferpents, 
lizards, and tortoifes, had each a hole in the head. In 
the ftomach of this bird he alfo found a ball as large as a 
goofe’segg, which conlifted of the bones of ferpents and 
lizards, the ftiells of tortoifes, wings and legs ofgrafshop- 
pers, and the elytra of fcarabasi: thefe inriigeftible mate¬ 
rials the bird afterwards ejedts by the bill, as mod of the 
rapacious tubes do. 
The feafon of love is about the month of July ; at this 
time their arms are turned againft each other ; they have 
dreadful battles for the favours ofthe female, who always 
yields to the ftrongeft. Their neft is flat, like thole of 
all the eagles, and placed on the higheft and mod thick- 
fet or buthy tree in the quarter they choofe for their do¬ 
main : it is lined with wool and feathers, and at leaft three 
feet in diameter ; they bend the twigs or branches of the 
tree, fo as to make them ferve as a foundation for the nelt; 
and thefe, fhooting up and rifing all round it, totally Con¬ 
ceal it from view, and make it every way fecure. The 
female lays two, often three, white eggs, dotted with ru¬ 
fous, and of the (ize of goofe-eggs, but rounder. The 
young take a confiderable time before they can fhift for 
themfelves : their long weak legs are the caufe of this, fo 
that they feem as it were to have attained their full growth 
before they quit the neft, which is not till they are four 
or five months old ; previous to that time they walk with 
their legs bent under them, and make a very awkward 
appearance. But, at a perfect growth, this bird walks 
firmly, with a noble air and graceful motion, generally 
with a flow agreeable pace, and yet upon occaiion will 
run extremely fvvift. Whenpurfued, itrather endeavours 
to efcape by running’than by flying, and in that cafe takes 
enormous ftriaes. To force it to take wing, it mnft either 
be furprifed fuddeniy, or followed on horfeback at full 
gallop; but even then it does not rife to any height, 
alights as foon as the prefent danger feems pad, and takes 
to running again. 
The male is conftant to one female, and they are gene¬ 
rally feen together. When caught young, they are eafily 
tamed : when properly fed, they may be trufted among 
poultry ; but, if hunger pinches, they take care to help 
themfelves. Vaillant fays they are fond of peace ; for in 
cafe of any battle in the farm-yard, the ferpent-eater runs 
and parts the combatants :■ and many perfons (he adds) 
at the Cape bring up thefe birds in their farms, both to 
maintain order, and to devour the lizards, ferpents, and 
rats, which are fo apt to deftroy chickens and eggs. 
This fpecies is found in all the barren tradts about the 
Cape of Good Hope, efpecially in Swartland ; it is pretty 
common on the eaftern coaft, and as far as Caffraria ; 
much lefs fo on the weft, and towards the Namaquois 
country. It is found alfo in the Philippine ifles. Seve¬ 
ral naturalifts have fpoken of this deftroyer of ferpents ; 
but few appear to have examined it accurately, till Vail¬ 
lant defcribed it. Buffon gives it the dimenfions of a 
large crane ; but it is really not fo large as the common 
European crane, being only three feet three inches high 
at the utmoft. It is now placed by Gmelin as the firft 
among the eagles, though it had generally been confidered 
as a vulture. Sonnerat gives it a forked tail, which it has 
not. Kolbe has confounded it with the pelican ; for the 
name of Jlang-vreeter , ferpent-eater, which he applies to 
the pelican, is the only appellation by which this bird is 
known, both by the Hottentots and the Dutch colonifts. 
The name of J'ecretaire, or fecretary, was afterwards given 
it by the Dutch, from comparing it with the office-clerks, 
who have a habit of flicking a pen behind their ear, to 
which this bird’s tuft bears fome refemblance. Vofmaer 
calls it fagittarius ; and Buffon mejjenger , from its running fo 
fwiftly. Vaillant, finally, calls it mangcur deferpens , fer¬ 
pent-eater, which is its appropriate name. This bird has 
a very tapering tail, the two middle feathers being twice 
as long as thofe next to them, and they trail on the 
ground when the bird lets them droop. The eye is large, 
grey, with black eye-brows. The mouth is large, the 
mandibles extending beyond the eyes ; the throat is thick, 
and capable of great extenfion by the fwelling out of the 
flcin of the neck ; the crop is very large, and capable of 
containing a vaft quantity of food. The plumage of the 
male, in his perfedt ftate, is bluifh grey on the head, neck, 
bread, and mantle, (haded more or lefs with rufous brown 
on the wing-coverts ; but the large quills are black. The 
throat, and the plumage of the fternum, are white ; un¬ 
der the tail white foiled with rufous ; the lower belly is 
black, mottled or ftriped with white and red ; the thighs' 
are covered with black feathers faintly (freaked with 
brown. The bafe of the bill and the naked lkin about 
the eye are yellow, but of a ftronger orange-colour’over 
the eye ; the bill is blackilh, as are the nails, which are 
fhort and blunt ; the toes are very thick, and with the 
legs are covered by broad fcales of a yellowifh brown. 
The feathers of the tail are partly black, but incline to 
grey as they lengthen,.and are all white at the tips : the 
two middle ones, which are by far the longeft, are of a 
light blue, clouded with brqwn towards the end. The 
creft confifts of ten very diftindt feathers; they rife in 
pairs, the Ihorteft on the upper part of the neck, the lon¬ 
ger ones lower down : they occupy a fpace of more than 
four inches : the large ones are black moftly on their out¬ 
ward extremities ; the reft are grey and black intermixed : 
they are agitated by every breath of wind, or the leaft 
motion ofthe animal, who can alfo eredt them at pleafure. 
The female differs from the male by her grey colour be- 
