Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The constellation Ophiuchus.
  • noun In ornithology, the serpent-eaters or secretary-birds: Cuvier's name (1797–8) of the genus of Falconidæ previously called Sagittarius, and subsequently known as Secretarius, Gypogeranus, and Ophiotheres. See cuts under secretary-bird and desmognathous.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Astron.) A constellation on the equator, lying between Scorpio and Hercules; -- called also Ophiuchus.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Raptors include the secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius), a number of eagles including the martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), a variety of owls, including the giant eagle owl (Bubo lacteus) and a collection of falcons, goshawks, kestrels, and kites.

    Kalahari xeric savanna 2008

  • Sagittarius serpentarius, waders and many others (Jefferies 1881, Fisher 1940) - a distribution which strongly suggests that they've been retained throughout neornithine history but lost selectively here and there, especially among so-called 'higher landbirds' [ostrich hand shown below; note obvious claws].

    ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science 2010

  • The grasslands surrounding the pans support a moderate bird fauna with species such as ostriches, secretary birds (Sagittarius serpentarius), kori bustards (Ardeotis kori), korhaans (Eupodotis spp.), sandgrouse (Pterocles spp.) and francolin (Francolinus spp.) being common.

    Zambezian halophytics 2008

  • The grasslands support species such as the secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) and Shelly’s francolin (Francolinus shelleyi).

    Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest-grassland mosaic 2008

  • It’s also possible that the birds used this kicking power to stun or kill prey, and here you will of course be thinking of the Secretary bird Sagittarius serpentarius, a cursorial raptor (superficially similar to a seriema) that kills or stuns snakes and other terrestrial prey with repeated kicks.

    Archive 2006-11-01 Darren Naish 2006

  • It’s also possible that the birds used this kicking power to stun or kill prey, and here you will of course be thinking of the Secretary bird Sagittarius serpentarius, a cursorial raptor (superficially similar to a seriema) that kills or stuns snakes and other terrestrial prey with repeated kicks.

    More on phorusrhacids: the biggest, the fastest, the mostest out-of-placest Darren Naish 2006

  • Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) - Eagle Heights Wildlife Park,

    WN.com - Articles related to Cotabato LGU to review ban on open-pit mining 2010

  • Sagittarius serpentarius - Etosha National Park-4 photo: Creative Commons/Keven Law

    WN.com - Articles related to Cotabato LGU to review ban on open-pit mining 2010

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  • A.K.A. Ophiucus. "In astronomy, a constellation of the northern hemisphere, being one of the 48 old constellations mentioned by all the antients. It is also called Ophiuchus, and anciently Aesculapius. It is in the figure of a man grasping a serpent. The stars in this constellation in Ptolemy's catalogue, are 29, in Tycho's 15, in Hevelius's 40, and in the Britannic catalogue 74."

    Falconer's New Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1816), 447

    October 14, 2008