Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-26
QUEER ANIMALS AND BIRDS.
Strange Denizens Of Australasian For
ests.
Of the New York TimeA

ests.
Correspondence Of the New York Timea
THE oRSYTHoRHYNcUs.
| Everybody who has read anything about Aus
tralis has formed the acquaintance of that most
extraordinary Of animals, the ornythoryncus
or duck-billed platypus. He varies In size from
the American muskrat to the woodchuck, has .
brown fur somewhat like mole, but coarser,
and bright, beady eyes, which are almost COM
pletely hidden in his diminutive head. 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 hunt
ers for manufactures of cloaks caps,
and rugs. As il the duck-billed platypus did
not sufticiently confuse matters by combn-
ing the forms and natures of mammal and bird,
1t has pleased him to assume the habits Of the
nsh TO the extent of living in rivers and feed
Ing on worms and water insects. His likeness
TO the hnny tribes is further increased by the
TACT that the most approved way Of catching
MIN 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
round drowned in the morning. His habits
being chiefly nocturnal and his agility in the
water so great that he will often dive at the
nash OF gun before the shot can reach him,
make his capture by other methods than the
hsh-llne somewhat uncertain.
The most extraordinary fact about the ami
mails and birds of Australasia is that the occur
renee OF distinctive species is restricted within
very narrow limits. The kangaroo for example,
Is found In Australia and Tasmania. but is un-
known In New Zealand; on the other hand,
those extraordinary birds, the apteryx, or
,klwls, as the native name has it, the kea, or
nesh-eatlng parrot and kakapo, or parrot that
has wings but never flies, are found in New
Zealand and nowhere else. The respondent
birds OF paradise also, although found abund-
antly In New Guinea. do not occur on the
Australian continent, although the straits that
separate the two countries are exceedingly
narrow.
That singularly named creature,
THE LAUGHING JACKAss,
Is species Of gigantic kingfsher which, hav-
ing been placed by one Of natures freaks in q
country where there is almost no water and
very few fish, carried the joke 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 a compound of
the "hee-haw" of jackass and the laugh Of a
hopeless maniac, with few interjected gurgles
like the sounds made by man while strang-
ing and the groans Of 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 contemptu-
ousiy for season, and then let off his demonia-
cal note as near your ear as possible-after
which he makes off expertly, cackling with de-
rlslve laughter as he goes. His disgraceful
familiarity with strangers is in part due to his
own devli-may-care character, and for the rest
to the fact that nobody molests him. and that
MS services In keeping the country free from
snPerhuous snakes are encouraged by fine of
70 imposed upon any one who kills him. His
manner OF dealing with snakes is to bounce
upon them, seize them by the back of the neck,
ny with them wriggling to great height, 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 peace
ably.
The bird sounds of an Australian Tasmanian
or New Zealand forest are very peculiar. There
Is very little song, properly so-called. but many
melodlous notes. and a combination of diverse
tones which produce an effect that is. peculiar
and agreeable. One bird has note like the
tolling of a deep bell far away in the depths of
the forest; another .'glug, glug, glug," which
sounds like liquor running out of bottle: a
thlrd gives sharp cutting note precisely like
the crack OF bullock drivers whip; one sighs
another whistles, third files saw, and others
go ,"wlpplty, wippity, wippity," .'craik, craik,
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 l have already described New
Zealand furnishes the greatest number of these,
the bird called
THE 'HUIA"
by the natives affording one of the most re-
markable. This is 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 1t requires two of them to secure
dinner, 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, however, prevents him from seiz-
ing the prey, but the female has long, slender
beak, which she insinuates into the hole
and draws out the wriggling morsel. She then
drops it into the mouth of the male. taking the
next grub herself, and in this alternate testing
and mutual assistance, the pair of ''huias'' fit
blithesomely through the woods, and set an ex-
ample, it may be remarked, which all welded
pairs, with feathers or without, would do well
to emulate. 1t is a significant fact that in case
the male is shot, the female makes off at once,
secure in the conviction that she can pick up a
living of vagrant worms by herself, or find
some other male which would be glad to ioin
forces. If, however, the female is shot, the
male remains and makes no attempt to escape
evidently knowing that without his female
| assistant his chances of securing q living are
of the slenderest
Another remarkable bird is
THE ''KEA," OR FRUSTRATING PARROT,
a large green bird which is the especial terror
| of the sheep herders. Until sheep-raising was
begun in New Zealand this bird was a fruit
nut and grain eater, but now has developed into
a carnivorOus biped of the most savage
character. His practice 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 surrounding these organs. This done they
| leave the sheep, which for time wanders
about in excruciating pain and presently dies
| miserably.
Another peculiar parrot in this country is
| the
! "KAKAPo."
whose mottled green and yellow plumage ia adj
mirably adapted to screen its wearer from OBJ
servation while moving about among the I'M
| derbrush, which is his chosen haunts Al
though possessing perfectly developed 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.
The leading representatives of the breed of
''apteryx," or birds without wings. are the
| ''KIwIs,"
| who are som atimas kapt in fba bonea, 90 ~ ~