282 THE COMMON KINGFISHER. 
it has been called the Settler’s clock. In allusion to the cry of this bird, 
which has been compared by Sturt to the yelling chorus of unquiet demons, 
the natives call it by the name Gogobera. 
The home of the Laughing Jackass is usually made in the hole of a gum- 
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 combat- 
ing any creature that may approach the entrance, and aiming the most 
desperate blows with its long pointed and powerful beak. 
It is a really handsome bird, and, although not possessing such an array 
of brilliant plumage as fall: to the lot of many Kingfishers, is yet very richly 
coloured. The bird is decorated with a dark brown crest, and the general 
tint of the back and upper surface is olive brown. The wings are brown- 
black, a few of the feathers being slightly tipped with verditer and the breast 
and under portions are white, washed with pale brown, which forms a series 
of faint bars across the breast. The tail is rather long, and rounded at the 
extremity, and is of a rich chestnut colour, 
banded with -deep black and tipped with 
white. 
THE common KINGFISHER is by far the 
most gorgeously decorated of all our in- 
digenous birds, and can bear comparison 
< with many of the gaily decorated inhabit- 
@ ants of tropical climates. 
- _ Itis asufficiently common bird, although 
\ distributed very thinly over the whole 
Gi country ; and considering the great number 
KW of eggs which it lays, and the large pro- 
= portion of young which it rears, 1s probably 
more plentiful than is generally supposed 
to be the case. The straight, glancing 
flight of the Kingfisher, as it shoots along 
the river-bank, its azure back gleaming in 
the sunlight with meteoric splendour, is a 
sight familiar to all those who have been 
accustomed to wander by the sides of 
rivers, whether for the purpose of angling 
or merely to study the beauties of nature. So swift is the flight of this 
bird, and with such wonderful rapidity does it move its short wings, that its 
shape is hardly perceptible as it passes through the air, and it leaves upon 
the eye of the observer the impression of a blue streak of light. 
The food of this bird consists chiefly, though not exclusively, of fish, which 
it takes, kills, and eats in the following manner :— 
Seated upon a convenient bough or rail that overhangs a stream where the 
smaller fish love to pass, the Kingfisher waits very patiently until he sees an 
unsuspecting minnow or stickleback pass below his perch, and then, with a 
rapid movement, drops into the water like a stone and secures his prey. 
Should it be a small fish, he swallows it at once; but if it should be’ of 
rather large dimensions, he carries it to a stone or stump, beats it two or three 
times against the hard substance, and then swallows it without any trouble. 
With the fish it generally feeds its young, being able to disgorge at will-the 
semi-digested food which it has swallowed, after the manner of most birds of 
prey. Fish, however, do not constitute its sole nourishment, as it is known 
to eat various insects, such as dragon-flies and water-beetles, and will often 
in cold weather pay a visit to the sea-shore for the purpose of feeding upon 
KINGFISHER.—(Alcedo [psida.) 
