198 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
made him sacrosanct in every Australian's eyes, and 
protect him more effectually than does the law. 
I was, however, greatly impressed some time since 
by a letter from Mr. Dick Griffin, of Barwon Downs, 
to the Argus, in which he said, " Twice in a month 
I have been an eye-witness of Jackasses catching 
snakes. In both cases the bird immediately started 
to swallow the snake without in any way damaging 
it. On the last occasion three Jackasses appeared 
to be having an argument as to which had the best 
right to the snake. The snake was between 3 
and 4 feet long, and after a quarter of an hour's 
hard swallowing the bird only succeeded in getting 
down about half of it, the remainder having plenty 
of life still." That seems conclusive evidence. 
The Laughing Jackass is a resident species, and, so 
far as I have observed, has not even local seasonal 
movements. You find it in any part of the district 
where there are old gum trees ; it is, perhaps, a little 
less often met with in the coastal messmate forest 
than in other timbered parts, having, if anything, a 
preference for lightly timbered country. 
At nesting-time, in the month of October, it 
exhibits a partiality for the sides of roads, which we 
shall see characterises one or two other species. I 
have sometimes seen a nest in a long, horizontal, hollow 
branch ; but that is unusual, and the commonly 
observed site is an old knot-hole in the main stem 
of a gum tree, at about 10 to 15 feet from the 
ground, the birds doing a good deal of hollowing out 
