. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. I06 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD. {_Smfrna bill, he tells us, is coral-red, the under-siirface pure white, the back and wings deep purple, while the shoulders, head, and nape, and some spots on the upper part of the back and wings, are pure azure-blue. The tail is white, narrowly edged with blue. These birds live upon insects and small land-moUusca, which they dart down upon and pick up from the ground just as the fish-eating species pick up a fish. Of the forest-haunting species, h
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. I06 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD. {_Smfrna bill, he tells us, is coral-red, the under-siirface pure white, the back and wings deep purple, while the shoulders, head, and nape, and some spots on the upper part of the back and wings, are pure azure-blue. The tail is white, narrowly edged with blue. These birds live upon insects and small land-moUusca, which they dart down upon and pick up from the ground just as the fish-eating species pick up a fish. Of the forest-haunting species, however, the best known is probably the large and, for a kingfisher, dull- coloured LAUGinN(_;-j,\CK.\ss, or Settler's Cluck, of Australia. Its food is of a \'ery mixed character — small mammals, reptiles, insects, and crabs being devoured with equal relish. Since it is not seldom to be seen bearing oft' a snake in its bill, it may be regarded as a useful bird — sup- posing, of course, the snake to be of a poisonous variet)'. A good idea of the bird in its native haunts is given by the late Mr. Wheelwright. " About an hour before sunrise," he writes, " the bushman is awakened by the most discordant sounds, as if a troop of fiends were shouting, whooping, and laughing around him in one wild chorus. This is the morning song of the ' laughing-jackass,' warning his feathered mates that daybreak is at hand. At noon the same wild laugh is heard, and as the sun sinks into the west it again rings through the forest. I shall ne\x-r forget the first night I slept in the open bush in this country. It was in the Black Forest. I woke about daybreak after a confused sleep, and for some minutes I could not remember where I was, such were the extraordinary sounds that greeted my ears: the fiendish laugh of the jackass, the clear, flute-like notes of the magpie, the hoarse cackle of the wattle-birds . . and the screaming of thousands of parrots as diey dashed through the fores
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
