128 NATTTBAL HISTORY SKETCHES. 



woke about daybreak, after a confused sleep, and for 

 some minutes I could not fancy where I was, such 

 were the extraordinary sounds that greeted my ears : 

 the fiendish laugh of the jackass ; the clear, flute-like note 

 of the magpie ; the hoarse cackle of the wattle-birds ; 

 the jargon of flocks of leatherheads ; and the screaming 

 of thousands of parrots, as they dashed through the 

 forest, all joining in chorus, formed one of the most 

 extraordinary concerts I ever heard, and seemed at the 

 moment to have been got up for the purpose of wel- 

 coming the stranger to this land of wonders on that 

 eventful morning. I have heard it hundreds of times 

 since, but never with the same feelings that I listened 

 to it then. 



The laughing jackass is the bushman's clock, and 

 being by no means shy, of a companionable nature, a 

 constant attendant about the bush-tent, and a destroyer 

 of snakes, is regarded, like the robin at home, as a sacred 

 bird in the Australian forests. It is an uncouth-looking 

 bird, a huge species of land kingfisher, nearly the size of 

 a crow, of a rich chestnut-brown and dirty white colour, 

 the wings slightly chequered with light blue, after the 

 manner of the British jay ; the tail-feathers long, rather 

 pointed, and barred with brown. It has the foot of the 

 kingfisher, a very formidable, long, pointed beak, and a 

 large mouth ; it has also a kind of crest, which it erects 

 when angry or frightened ; and this gives it a very fero- 

 cious appearance. It is a common bird in all the forests 

 throughout the year ; bred in a hole in a tree, and the 



