August, 1922 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
102 
little too large and the chicks could go in and out as they 
pleased. Jacky was wont to take up a position in a tree 
above the coop, and woe betide the chick that ventured 
outside! Jacky would dive down upon him with unerring 
precision, and one by one they fell victims to his insatiable 
appetite. 
After about half the brood had vanished, I decided to 
let the hen and chicks out, as I thought the mother might 
be able to afford them some protection. The brood had 
not been out of the coop many minutes when Jacky took 
a header into the midst of them. He had scarcely reached 
the ground, however, when the old hen struck him. This 
hen, by the way, was a particularly vicious bird when she 
had chickens, and was held in great awe by the children. 
The disturbance that ensued was like a miniature 
cyclone, and 1 had occasional glimpses of the combatants 
through a whirlwind of dust and feathers. The contest 
was not of long duration, but during that period Jack was 
■“receiver-general,” and his screams brought his brethren 
hurrying from all directions. The Kookaburra finally 
became separated from his vicious assailant by being 
knocked down a steep bank, and lost no time in making 
good his escape; but it was a very ragged and lopsided 
Jack that struggled on to the lower branches of a neigh- 
bouring tea-tree. 
On another occasion I saw a Kookaburra make short 
work of a small Kingfisher. Jacky had taken up a position 
on a branch in close proximity to a termites’ nest, in which 
two Kingfishers had made their nest. That these little 
birds resented his presence was evident by the vicious 
manner in which they darted and pecked at him. and the 
click of their beaks was plainly audible. For a time Jacky 
was kept so busy dodging blows that he would not have 
seen a full-grown carpet snake on the ground, let alone a 
worm. He stood these indignities for some time, till at 
last his patience became exhausted, and as one of the King- 
fishers darted at him he grabbed his small relation in his 
powerful beak and hammered the life out of him on a limb. 
— H. C. Hayes, Kyogle, N.S.W. 
