170 THE LAUGHING JACKASS. 



Although one of the true Kingfishers, it so far departs from the habits of the family 

 as to be comparatively careless about catching fish, and, indeed, often resides in the vast 

 arid plains where it can find no streams sufficiently large to harbour fish in their waters. 

 Crabs of various kinds are a favourite food with this bird, which also eats insects, small 

 mammalia, and reptiles. Mr. Gould mentions an instance where he shot one of these 

 birds for the sake of possessing a rare and valuable species of rat which it was carrying 

 off in its bill. It is also known to eat snakes, catching them with great dexterity 

 by the tail, and crushing their heads with its powerful beak. Sometimes it is known to 

 pounce upon fish, but it usually adheres to the above-mentioned diet. 



The cry of this bird is a singular, dissonant, abrupt laugh, even more startling than 

 that of the hyaena, and raising strange panics in the heart of the novice, who first hears 

 it while bivouacking in the " bush." Being of a naightily inquisitive nature, the Laughing 

 Jackass seems to find great attraction in the glare of a fire, and in the evening is apt to 

 glide silently through the branches towards the blaze, and, perching upon a neighbouring 

 bough, to pour forth its loud yelling cry. The " old hands " are in nowise disconcerted at 

 the sudden disturbance, but shoot the intruder on the spot, and in a very few minutes 

 convert him into a savoury broil over the fire which he had come to inspect. 



At the rising and the setting of the sun the Laughing Jackass becomes very lively, 

 and is the first to welcome the approach of dawn, and to chant its strange exulting pseans 

 at the return of darkness. From this peculiarity, it has been called the Settler's Clock. 

 In allusion to the cry of this bird, wliich has been compared by Sturt to the yelling 

 chorus of unquiet demons, the natives call it by the name of Gogobera. 



We evidently have in this bird another example of the frequency with wliich one idea 

 runs through and intersects the various divisions of the animal kingdom, mystically uniting 

 by undefinable bonds the various departments and innumerable groups of living beings. 

 Several of these remarkable facts have already been mentioned, where the question was 

 of form ; and we have in the Laughing Jackass, and its resemblance in that respect to the 

 laughing hysena, a similarity of voice in two very opposite beings. In the same manner, 

 the voice of the harmless ostrich is a roar so precisely resembling that of the fierce and 

 carnivorous lion, that even the Hottentots have been unable to discriminate between 

 the bird and the quadruped. As a general rule, colour is but little developed in the 

 mammalian forms, and very greatly so among the birds. Yet we have several instances 

 among the mammals — such as the mandril and several other quadrumana — where the 

 vivid colouring of the skin is but little inferior to that which paints the plumage of the 

 tropical birds. 



There is, again, one characteristic which is even more universal in its occurrence than 

 either of the preceding, namely, the development of odour. Probably on account of the 

 forcible manner in which it strikes the senses, those creatures which exhale an unpleasant 

 scent are more readily known than those which emit a pleasant, or at all events a non- 

 offensive emanation. As the most prominent types of this principle, we have among the 

 quadrupeds the skunk, among the birds the vulture, and among the reptiles the crocodile 

 with its intolerable muslcy scent. Among insects the skunk principle is very prominent, 

 and is found in many of the most lovely and exquisite forms of insect life as well as in 

 those creatures which are repulsive to the eye as well as to the nostrils. 



The Laughing Jackass is in no way fastidious in choosing a locality, as it may be 

 found in equal plenty in the bush, the forest, or the open plain. While at rest upon a 

 branch, it sits in a rather dull and " lumpy " attitude, its chin resting upon its breast, and 

 arousing itseK at intervals to utter its discordant laugh. It is readily tamed, and bears 

 the climate of England with tolerable hardihood. 



The home of the Laughing Jackass is usually made in the hole of a gimi-tree 

 {eucalyptus), where it makes no sort of nest, but simply lays its eggs upon the soft 

 decaying wood. The eggs are pearly white, and the bird keeps a vigilant watch over the 

 burrow which holds its treasures, fiercely combating any creature that may approach the 

 entrance, and aiming the most desperate blows with its long pointed and powerful beak. 



It is a reaUy handsome bird, and although not possessing such an array of brilliant 

 plumage as falls to the lot of many Kingfishers, is yet very richly coloured. The bird is 



