The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-04-02
o1EER ANIMALS AND BIRDS.
Strange Denizens of Australasian For
eSts

beady eyes, when are almost completely
hidden in his diminutive he I'D. Thus much
beast, he has the bill of duck, webbed feet,
and unless my recollection is at fault the
female lays eggs and suckles her young. His
fur is the most valuable of that of any of the
animals of Australia-which, for the most
part have rather thin coverings-and his
race is rapidly becoming exterminated by
hunters for manufactures of cloaks, caps,
and rugs. AS if the duck-billed platypus
did not sufficiently confuse matters by
combining the forms and natures OF man.
NAL and bird, it has pleased him to assume
the habits of the fish to the extent OF living
in rivers aud feeding on worms and water
insects His likeness to the fnny tribes is
further increased by the fact that the most
approved way of catching him is by means
of set lines with baited hooks that are
arranged by night across the streams
which he most frequents, and upon which
he is found drowned in the morning. His
habits being chiefly nocturnal and his
agility in the water so great that he will
often dive at the flash of a gun before the
shot can reach him, make his capture by
other methods than the fish line somewhat
uncertain.
The most extraordinary fact about the
animals and birds of Australasia is that the
occurrence Of distinctive species is restricted
within very narrow limits. The kangaroo,
mania, but is unknown in New Zealand; on
the other hand, those extraordinary birds,
the apteryx or "kiwisn rs the native name
has it; the kea, or fesh-eating parrot, and
kakapo, or parrot that has wings but never
flies, are found in New Zealand and no
where else. The respondent birds of para
disc also, although found abundantly in
New Guinea do not occur on the Australian
continent, although the straits that separ
ia tlra tyun fri awNaa6innlv
row. That singularly named creature,
THE LAUGHING JACKAss,
is species of gigantic kingfsher which,
having been placed by one of natures
freaks in a country where there is almost
no water and very few fish, carried the joke
a degree further on his own account and
turned his attention to the catching of
snakes. The bird derives his name from his
note, which is compound of the "hee-
hawn of jackass and the laugh of hope
less maniac, with few interjected gurgles
like the sounds made by a man while
straugling and the groans of a person
afflicted with remorse.
There is an intelligence and evident vein
of humor in the laughing jackass, who
loves to approach you silently, regard you
contemptuously for a season and then let
off his demonlacal note as near your ear as
possible-after which he makes off expertly,
cackling with dersive laughter as he goes.
His disgraceful familiarity with strangers
is In part due to his own devil-may-car
character, aud for the rest to the fact that
nobody molests him, and that his services
in keeping the country free from superfiu-
GUS snakes are encouraged by a fine of 95 i'm
posed upon any one who kills him. His
manner of dealing with snakes is to pounce
upon them seize them by the back of the
neck, fly with them wriggling TO great
hight, and drop them to the earth. The
jackass is on the ground as quick as the
snake, and if the latter still shows fight,
repeats the operation until the serpent is
ready to give up the ghost peaceably.
The bird sounds of an Australian, Tas-
manian GA New Zealand forest are very
peculiar. There is very little song, properly
SO-called, but many melodious notes, and
combination of diverse tones which produce
an effect that is peculiar and agreeable.
One bird has a note like the tolling of
deep bell far away in the depths of the for
est; another a 'glug, glug. glug," which
sounds like liquor running out of a bottle;
a third gives a sharp, cutting note precisely
like the crack of bullock drivers whip;
one signs, another whistles, third files a
saw, and others go "wippitv, wippity, wip-
pity "craIk, craik, craik," more pork,
more pork and indulge in other strange
cries which make one think the whole forest
has gone drunk or insane, and, if he be at
all of humorous bent, cause him to laugh
outright at the strange jargon.
The multitude of colonial birds show
many extraordinary freaks, quite in the
line Of the others which have already de-
scribed. New Zealand furnishes the great
est number of these, the bird called
THE "HUIA"
by the natives affording one Of the most re-
markable This is a bird of iridescent
black plumage and yellow beak, which
feeds upon grubs that are dug out of trees,
both green and dead.
The extraordinary circumstance about
these fowls is that it requires two of them
to secure dinner, a male and female.
The male is furnished with thick, stout,
chisel-like beak, with which he chops into
the wood and exposes the hole in which the
grub burrows. The shape of his beak, how
ever, prevents him from Selling the prey,
but the female has a long, slender beak,
which she insinuates into the hole and
draws out the wrigglinZ morsel. She then
drops it into the mouth Of the
male, taking the next grub herself,
and in this alternate tasting and mu-
tual assistance, the pair of 'huias" fit
blithesomelY through the woods, and set an
example, it may be remarked, which all
welded pairs, with feathers or without,
would do we'll to emulate. 1t is a signifi-
cant fact that in case the male is shot the
female makes off at once, secure in the con-
viction that she can pick up a living of va
grant worms by herself, or find some other
male which would be glad to join forces.
If, however, the female Is shot, the male re
mains and makes no attempt to escape, evil
IDENTITY knowing that without his female as
sistant his chances of securing a living are
of the senderest. Another remarkable
bird is
THE "KEA," OR FRUSTRATING PARROT,
large green bird, which is the especial
terror of the sheep herders. Until sheep
raising was begun in New Zealand this
bird was fruit nut and grain eater, but
now has developed into a carnivorous biped
of the most savage character. His prac-
tice now is to settle upon the back of a
sheep or lamb, and with his sickle-like beak
pick hole in its sides over the kidneys,
and delve out and devour the rich fat sur
rounding these organs. This done they
leave the sheep, which for a time wanders
about i'll excrucating pain, and presently
dies miserably. Another peculiar parrot
in this country is the
"KAKAPo,"
whose notified green and yellow plumage is
admirably adapted to screen its wearer
from observation while moving about
among the underbrush, which is his chosen
haunts. Although possessing perfectly de-
veloped wings, the "kakapo" never uses
them and confines itself TO crawling about
among the thickets which form an almost
impenetrable mass under the New Zealand
forest
.AaNs ~ H. 49,. a