Philatelic Ornithology



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food. But the bird has as well a national and sentimental value. Next

to the Emu it is the most typical Australian bird. It is peculiar to

Australia, for in no other country is it found.


Comparatively speaking it is rara avis, even in Australia itself, for

it is only to be seen in the most secluded parts of Victoria and New

South Wales. It is the native Pheasant. The aborigines call it “ Beleck-

Beleck ”. There are three species, Superba, Alberta, and Victorias. The

general plumage is glossy brown, shaded with black and silver-grey,

and the ornate tail of the male bird is black barred. The Lyre Birds

live in the densest recesses of the fern gullies of the Dividing Bange,

with the Satin Bird and the Bell Bird as their neighbours.


They are the most shy of birds, and are oftener heard than seen.

Their notes are heard more frequently than they are recognized, for

they are consummate mimics and ventriloquists. They imitate to

perfection, the notes of most other birds—the united voicing of a flock

of Parrakeets, the barking of dogs, the sawing of timber, and the

clink of the woodman’s axe. Thus it is that the Menura has earned

for itself the name of “ The Australian Mocking Bird ”. Parrots and

Magpies may be taught to speak ; as a mimic the Lyre Bird requires

no teacher. For many years since 1888 the Lyre Bird was the design

of the eightpenny postage stamp of New South Wales.


The new sixpenny Australian stamp also depicts a bird, the

Kookaburra, more commonly known as the Laughing Jackass, and

shortened often to just plain “ Jack The name is obvious to anyone

who has heard his rollicking laugh, which sounds like Koo Koo Koo

Ka Ka Ka. He has also been called the “ Settler’s Clock ”, for the

regularity with which he laughs in the morning and at night.


The scientific name for the Laughing Jackass, Dacelo gigantea,

was given to it by W. E.. Leach in 1916, as an anagram, or transposition

of the Latin Alcedo, a Kingfisher, as it is the Great Brown Kingfisher

of Australia. Some have erroneously thought that the name was

derived from the French word, “ jacasse,” derived from jaquot, a name

popularly given to Parrots, but a quotation of Collins, in 1798, who

refers to the Laughing Jack, disposes of the supposed French origin.

It is a nationally protected bird, and forbearance has made it tame and

fearless.



