were in the body of the fame colour with my defcription, but
had the tail-feathers black throughout, with pale whitilh tips.
That figured in the Planches Enluminees is brown above, white
beneath: the breafe yellowilh : tail wholly black throughout.
The toes are faulty, being near three time? the length of nature.
Mr. Sonnerat fays, that the bird is naked above the knees j and
that the two outer tail-feathers are the long ones, which, he fays,
are as long as the whole body. In this he is not far amifs; but
in the two firft aflertions, I am clear, he has been mifinformed.
In Miller's plate of this bird, I obferve the tail to be croffed
with numerous alternate bars of black and white, and the creft
tipped with white *. I think it neceffary to be thus prolix on
' the colours, to fhew how much it varies, either by age, fex, or in
different fpecimens, naturally.
M anners. As to the manners of this bird, it is on all hands allowed, that
it principally feeds on rats, lizards, fnakes, and the like j and that
it will become familiar : whence Sonnerat is of opinion that it
might be made ufeful in fome of our colonies, if encouraged, towards
the deftruftion o f .thofe pefts. They call it at the Cape of
Good Hope, Slangeater, i. e. Snake-eater| A great peculiarity belongs
to it, I believe obferved in no other; which is, the faculty
offtriking forwards with it’s legs, never backwards. This circum-
ftance I have obferved myfelf.— Dr. Solander informs me, that he
has feen one o f thefe birds take up a fnake, fmall tortoife, or fuch
like, in it’s claws; when, dafhing it from thence againft the
ground with great violence, if the victim was not killed at firft, it
* He has omitted the bare fpace round the eyes ; which gives it more the
appearance of a Falcon than a Vulture.: which Jaft genus it certainly belongs
to.
repeated
iiv
repeated the operation till that end was anfwered j after which it
ate it up quietly.
Dr. J . R. Forjler mentioned a further circumftance, which he
fays was fuppofed to be peculiar to this bird; that fhould it
by any accident break the leg, the bone would never unite
again. — The fail I can by no means call in queftibn; but it
being peculiar to this fpecies, fhould be well confideredj at
teaft till we know whether an union of the bone will take place
again in the Flamingo, long-legged Plover, Avocetta, and fuch kind
of birds,, which, are liable to the fame accident.
G e s u s II.
1