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the Cbincse, and I believe tliat a considerable number of them arc 
always in captivity at Pekin. 
The Austkalian Crane. —{Grim Australasiana .)—It evinces great 
aptitude for domestication, and is called there “the native companion/' 
from the docility with which it accommodates itself to the society of 
niai*. Lord Powerscourt does not confine his attention to mammalia 
alone. He also cultivates various kinds of birds, and the follo\ving 
is his list:—Pair of Polish swans; one black-necked ditto ; one black 
ditto; one ruddy sheldrake; two ditto Mandarin ducks; one pair 
Carolina ducks; one ditto Bahama ducks (and a good many of other 
kinds;) one pair spur-wing geese; one ditto Egj'ptian geese; two 
ditto grey-leg geese (and several other kinds.) 
There is a useful bird which may suit the tastes of some persons 
who have accommodation, and, I may add, wish for it; it is not very 
ornamental, but it is useful; I mean the Laughing Kingfisher 
{Dadco gigantea) which may be taken as the type of a considerable 
group of Idngfishers, -which difter essentially in their habits from the 
lovely bird Avhich flashes like a jewel along the brooks and rivulets 
of Europe. These powerful kingfishers of Australia seldom approach 
the w^ater, but live in the tlry scrub, and feed like birds of prey upon 
insects, reptiles, and small mammalia, instead of fish. The laughing 
kingfisher is excessively adroit in catching mice, and W’ill wait as 
patiently as a cat at a hole whence he expects one to emerge. His 
note strangely resembles a rude powerful laugh, and the united eflbrts 
of the fine specimens confined in the aviary are heard far and near 
every morning. The regularity w’ith which this laughter rings through 
the Australian forest at certain hours of the day, has not been 
unnoticed by the colonists, and among other trivial names for the 
bii’d, they have given it that of the “ Settlers' Clock.” 
As among the mammalia, I have endeavoured to point out a 
quadruped which might again be restored to this country, so among 
birds I beg to suggest that there is no reason w'hy an attempt should 
not be made to restore to tIio.se places where they once existed, that 
magnificent bird the bustard. He lived here once, and that in the 
memory of many iiersons now alive. Why should we not restore him 
(and I know where to obtain specimens), and jflace them in the pre¬ 
serves of Norfolk and on the plains of Salisbury ? the old sj)ort of 
coursing the bustard might again be revived, and the table might 
be supplied with a fresh delicacy. 
We now come to another most important branch of acclimatisation. 
CULTIVATION OF THE WATERS. 
No Englisli dinner is complete without a dish of fish; and fish 
