The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-12-26
SOME STRANGE ANIMALS,
THEY ARE CURIoslTIEs WELL
WORTH SEEING.
Uni2ue Australian Dlrd-The LAUGHING lack.
ass-Fiying Foxes-Psculiar Animals
and Birds Of Ceylel and Thisr
Habits-A Paradise.

was in the bird market of Sidney.
Australia. where one was offered for
sale confined in a huge wicker cage.
but the sarcastic notes of this ludi-
crous bird were often heard afterward
in its wild state singing through the
jungle. 1t is one of the most curious
creatures the traveller meets in his
wanderings. Mischievous, sly, droll,
and without particle of shyness,
what bird it is! Its plumage is white
and black. presenting very little TAIL
but it is provided with large, gawky
head. well-rounded body, and is
about the size of our domestic pigeon.
The eyes are very large and gaze bold
ly at the observer as if to pierce him
through and through. This bird
laughs almost like a human being.
with sort OF bird malice added. and
though his notes are harsh, his merri-
ment is extremely ludicrous and even
contagious. One not only laughs at
but with him.. His rafting articula-
ton forms tumult of laughter. He
is as intelligent as a mino bird or a
parrot and can be taught to articulate
words like them, and. we are sorry to
say, takes most aptly to profane Ian
guage. The laughing jackass is of
the kingfisher family of birds, but de-
rives its food supply mostly from small
snakes. These he seizes just back Of
the head. and flying high in air drops
them upon stony ground, which breaks
the delicate spine, after which he
quietly devours them peice-meal, and
as he thus performs what is considered
an important service, he enjoys entire
immunity from trap and gun in Aus
tralia.
The flying fox is most peculiar
animal, not unlike a mammoth bat.
One sees them in surprising numbers
in different parts of India especially
on moonlight nights. The flying fox
is unable to take fight from the
ground. By means of its sharp claws,
however. it rapidly climbs a tree,
from the branches of which it throws
itself into the air and skins about by
expanding a thin membrane which
opens beneath its limbs. 1t directs its
course through the atmosphere with
great precision without any vibratory
motion. During the day time these
animals retire to the seclusion of the
forest, coming forth at night with the
bats and owls. They sleep hanging
head downward from the branches, to
which they adhere by the natural
hook attached to the points OF their
shoulders. One also sees in India the
flying opossum, which '.shoots" across
considerable spaces at high elevation
by expanding thin membrane al
tached to either side of it's body, and
which connects the fore and hind legs.
This fateful bird of nautical romance
Is not very generally distributed on
the ocean. The writer has seen them
in hocks Of a score or more on the
borders of the Arctic circle, on the
voyage from Tasmania to Southern
New Zealand. The peculiarly of the
fight of the albatross Is obvious to
the most casual observer. 1t scarcely
ever plies its wings in a vibratory
manner. but sails upon the wind in
any direction it chooses. though what
mysterious power propels it, with or
against the wind, who can say? II
for a moment the bird partially alights
ho ~ nh
prey there is trifling exertion evident
in rising again until a few feet in
height is attained, when all visible ef-
fort ceases. The albatross is armed
with a tremendous beak from, six to
eight inches long, ending in sharp
pointed hook of great hardness and
strength, the most terrible weapon at
tached to any of the feathered tribe.
The average bird of this species meas
ures three feet in length of body, while
the spread of wing from tip to tip is
ten feet and often eleven feet. The
web feet expanded are seven inches
across. In color the albatross is slate
white. Ermine itself is not winter
than the breast OF this bird, which
lives in the air and battles constantly
in the sea.
The forests of the luxuriant island
of Ceylon are remembered with special
pleasure, though the usual tropical
pests are not wanting there. Beetles.
dragon flies, cockchafers locusts, CEN
tipedes. vicious spiders and voracious
lmusquitoes abound. Here the curious
home of the tailor-bird, which sews
leaves together and builds q dainty
nest inside of them, was seen. also the
eelf-constructed home Of the weaver
bird, with an entrance tube over two
feet in length. The peacock was here
found wild, the male bird in all its
wealth of notified snlenfop Sfnrke