402 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



that it deserves a more than passing notice, hence we reprint Mr. H. Wheelwright's 

 graphic account of its habits : 



" About an hour before sunrise the bushman is awakened by the most discordant 

 sounds, as if a troop of fiends 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. I shall never forget 

 the first night I slept in the open bush in this country. It was in the Black Forest. 

 I awoke about daybreak, after a confused sleep, and for some minutes I could not 

 remember 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 cacks 

 of the wattle-birds, the jargon of flocks of leather-heads, and the screaming of thou- 

 sands of parrots as they dashed through the forest, all joining chorus, formed one of 

 the most extraordinary concerts I have ever heard, and seemed at the moment to 

 have been got up for the purpose of welcoming the sti-anger 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 

 color ; 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 a king- 

 fisher ; 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 ferocious 

 appearance. It is a common bird in all the forests throughout the year ; breeds in a 

 hole of a tree, and the eggs are white ; generally seen in pairs, and by no means shy. 



" Their principal food appears be to small reptiles, grubs, and caterpillars. As I 

 said before, it destroys snakes. I never but once saw them at this game. A pair of 

 'jackasses' had disabled a carpet-snake under an old gum-tree, and they sat on a dead 

 branch above it, every now and then darting down and pecking it, and by their antics 

 and chattering seemed to consider it a capital joke. I can't say whether they ate the 

 snake. I fancy not ; at least, the only reptiles I have ever found in their stomachs 

 have been small lizards." 



The racket-tailed kingfishers ( Tanysiptera) belong to the same sub-family. They 

 are peculiar to New Guinea and surrounding islands, and are characterized by having 

 the middle tail-feathers lengthened and racket-shaped, like several of the motmots. 

 It is also to be noted that, like some of the latter, the species of Tanysiptera have 

 only ten tail-feathers, while nearly all the other kingfishers have twelve. Dr. Wallace, 

 in a letter to Mr. R. B. Sharpe, thus describes their habits : " These birds are all 

 inhabitants of dense thickets or forests, where there is soil free from dense vegetation, 

 from which they can pick up insects, small molluscs, or Crustacea. They rest on 

 branches three to five feet from the ground, and dart down on their prey, often with 

 such force as to stick their bill into the ground, as shown by its being often covered 

 with mud. They are said to nest in deserted white-ants' nests, or in caves or holes in 

 banks. In Aru T. hylocharis was often brought me by the native boys alive. They 

 caught them before dawn roosting under ledges of the coralline rocks which border 

 the forest water-streams in those islands." 



