Sē'cre-ta-ry-bird, n.

n. of feathers at the back of its head, which were fancifully thought to resemble pens stuck behind the ear.] (Ornith.) A bird of South Africa (Gypogeranus serpentarius), with an aquiline head and beak, the legs of a crane, and a lengthened crest and tail. It lives almost exclusively on the larger snakes, which it captures with much skill, and hence it is sometimes called the snake-eater.