DACELO GIGANTEA. 



(Laughing Jackass, or Great Brown Kingfisher.) 



--♦- 



Forehead, biiffish brown, each feather marked with a broad black line down the centre. The feathers of the crown are formed into a crest, 

 the fronting and uppermost portion of which consists of black, and the hinder and side portions from above the eye of white feathers. Ear 

 coverts and a patch behind the neck, black ; neck and all the under surface, white ; back and shoulders, blackish brown, the tips of the 

 feathers being lighter ; primaries and secondaries, black, the former white at their bases, and the latter tinged near the extremity of the outer 

 webs with greenish grey, and slightly tipped with white ; wing coverts, black, tipped with very light shining verditer blue ; upper tail coverts, 

 light verditer blue ; tail feathers, reddish chestnut, the two central ones being slightly tipped with white, and the remainder for a considerable 

 portion of their length are white, all being crossed with distinct bars of black, which are broadest in the middle feathers and the upper parts 

 of the others, becoming reduced to mere lines on the white tips of the lateral feathers; upper mandible, black; under mandible, dirty 

 yellowish white, with a large patch of brown near the head ; irides, very dark brown ; feet, blackish green. 



Length, 19| inches ; wing, 9 ; tail, 7i ; bill, 3 ; tarsus, 1 ; middle toe, 1-|-. 



This, the most common of the three species known to inhabit Australia, is found in South Australia, Victoria, New South 

 Wales, and the southern parts of Queensland. It generally frequents open timbered country or cleared land in the neighborhood of stations, 

 farms, or where timber is being burned off, when snakes, lizards, locusts, &c,, offer it an ample repast. Should it meet with a reptile with 

 which it is unable individually to cope, its loud cries soon bring others to its assistance. In dealing with a snake, its custom is to seize the 

 reptile, ascend a short distance in the air and drop it, immediately following and repeating the process a number of times, until its victim, 

 stunned and bewildered, falls an easy prey to its voracious enemy, who, first battering it from side to side, finishes by swallowing it entire. 

 Snakes two feet long have been taken out of the stomach, a" fact which should lead persons to afford so useful an animal all possible protection. 

 It is usually seen perching on a dead branch almost motionless, or merely moving its head from side to side, as it intently scans the ground 

 from its elevated position. The popular name by which this bird is universally known is derived from the circumstance that it imitates in no 

 small degree a loud boisterous laugh, which is continued for some time, and accompanied with an upward jerking motion of the tail. The 

 nest is situated in the hole of a tree. The eggs, two in number, are pearl white, and about the size of a pigeon's. 



