BIRD FISHERMEN 189 



The glittering flash of his dazzling wings 

 Was such as the gorgeous rainbow flings, 

 In broken rays through the tearful sky, 

 On a sunny eve in bright July." 



Lack of space forbids mention of many of these 

 interesting fishers of the bird world, but the laugh- 

 ing kingfisher, or laughing jackass, deserves special 

 notice. This fisher is sometimes known as bush- 

 man's clock, and a clock he is indeed! For in the 

 Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist we are told that : 

 "About an hour before sunrise the bushman is 

 awakened by the most discordant sounds, as if a 

 troop of friends were shouting, whooping, and 

 laughing around him in one wild chorus ; this is the 

 morning song of the laughing jackass, warning his 

 feathered mates that daybreak is at hand. At noon 

 the same wild laugh is heard, and as the sun sinks 

 into the West, it again rings through the forest." 

 This bird's home is in Australia and New Guinea. 



The herons are fishers of great talent and im- 

 portance in the bird world. They are the "still- 

 fishers" of the feathered tribe, and frequent the 

 gloomy marshes of deep forests or shallow streams, 

 where they stand silent and motionless as a sphinx, 

 ready at the appearance of a fish to transfix him 

 with their sharp, dagger-like beaks. They seem to 



