280 THE LAUGHING JACKASS. 
This species is fond of inhabiting the densest forests of Southern Mexico, 
and generally haunts the topmost branches of the loftiest trees, where it 
clings to the boughs like a parrot, and traverses their ramifications with 
much address. 
The colour of the adult male bird is generally of a rich golden green on 
the upper parts of the body, including the graceful rounded crest, the head, 
neck, throat, chest, and long lancet-shaped plumes of the shoulders. The 
breast and under-parts are brilliant scarlet, the central feathers of the tail 
are black, and the exterior white, with black bars. The wonderful plumes 
which hang over the tail are generally about three feet in length, and in 
particularly fine specimens have been known to exceed that measurement by 
four inches, so that the entire length of the bird may be reckoned at four feet. 
The bill is light yellow. 
As is often the case with birds, where the male is remarkable for the beauty 
of his plumage, the female is altogether an ordinary and comparatively insig- 
nificant bird. 
KINGFISHERS, 
THE KINGFISHERS form a tolerably well-marked group of birds all of 
which are remarkable for their long bills and the comparative shortness of 
their bodies, which give them a peculiar bearing that is not to be mistaken. 
The bills of these birds are all long and sharp, and in most cases are 
straight. Their front toes are always joined together more or less, and the 
number of the toes is very variable in form: and arrangement ; some species 
possessing them in pairs, like-those of the parrots; others having them 
arranged three in front and one behind, as is usually the case with birds ; 
while a few species have only three toes altogether, two in front and one 
behind. The wings are rounded. As may be gathered from their popular 
name, they mostly feed upon fish, which they capture by pouncing upon the 
finny prey. 
Our first example of the Kingfisher is the LAUGHING JACKASS, or GIANT 
KINGFISHER, its former title being derived from the strange character of its 
cry. 
This bird is an inhabitant of Australia, being found chiefly in the south- 
eastern district of that country, and in New South Wales. In Van Diemen’s 
Land Mr. Gould believes that it does not exist. In no place is it found in 
any great numbers ; for although it is sufficiently common, it is but thinly 
dispersed over the country. It is rather a large bird, being eighteen inches 
in total length, and is powerful in proportion, being able to wage successful 
war against creatures of considerable size. 
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 often 
resides in the vast arid plains where it can find no stream 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 hyena, and raising strange panics in the heart 
of the novice who first hears it while bivouacking in the “bush.” Being 
of a mightily inquisitive nature, the Laughing Jackass seems to find great 
