. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. 266 NATURAL lllSTOKY. and an incli in thickness, eleven Lizards of seven or eight inches in length, and twenty-one sniall Tortoises of about two inches in diameter, besides a large quantity of Grasshoppers or Locusts, and other insects. A spirited and truthful account of the habits of the Secretary was published in 1856 by the late M. Jules Verreaux, who spent upwards of fifteen years in South Africa engaged in a study of the natural histoiy of that part of the world, and a few extracts from this paper camiot be insisted.*. SECRETARY "
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. 266 NATURAL lllSTOKY. and an incli in thickness, eleven Lizards of seven or eight inches in length, and twenty-one sniall Tortoises of about two inches in diameter, besides a large quantity of Grasshoppers or Locusts, and other insects. A spirited and truthful account of the habits of the Secretary was published in 1856 by the late M. Jules Verreaux, who spent upwards of fifteen years in South Africa engaged in a study of the natural histoiy of that part of the world, and a few extracts from this paper camiot be insisted.*. SECRETARY " As Nature exhibits foresight in all that she does, she has given to each animal its means of preserva- tion. Thus the Secretary Bird has beeij. modelled on a plan approj)riate to its mode of life ; and it is therefore for this pui-pose that, owing to the length of its legs and tarsi, its piercing eye is alile to discover at a long distance the prey which, in anticipation of its appeai'ance, is stretched on the sand or amongst the thick grass. The elegant and majestic form of the bird becomes now even more graceful; it now brings into action all its cunning in order to surprise the Snake which it is going to attack; therefore it approaches with the greatest caution. The elevation of the feathers of the neck and back of the head shows when the moment for attack has arrived. It throws itself with such force on the reptile that very often the latter does not survive the first blow. But if the bird does not succeed, * Proceedings of the ZoologicaJ Society, 185G, p. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Duncan, P. Martin (Peter Martin), 1821-1891; Metcalf Collection (North Carolina State University). NCRS. London [etc] Cassell & Company, Limited
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
