American Museum of Natural History. 
BELTED KINGFISHER (Megaceryle alcyon). Length: 1 foot. Range: North 
America. 
This bird is rarely found far from water, and is usually perched on some 
overhanging limb, on the lookout for the flash of a fish’s fin. With a quick plunge 
this “king of fishing birds” seizes its prey. 
New York Zoological Society. 
LAUGHING JACKASS (Dacelo gi- 
GAs). Length: 1% feet. Range: 
Australia and New Guinea. 
The gurgling, startling laugh 
of this bird an hour before sunrise 
each day, has earned it the familiar 
name of the “settler’s clock.” The 
natives call it “kookabura.” 
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