LAUGHING-JACKASS

or GREAT KINGFISHER, the popular name of the species of Dacelo, an Australian genus of coraciiform birds belonging to the family Alcedinide. They are so called because of their extraordinary gurgling note. OD. gigas, the principal species, has brown plumage, with a white stripe on each side of the head. It nests in shady forest regions, but will also frequent the yicinity of houses. Its diet consists of insects, reptiles, molluscs, etc., and occasionally it will devour small mammals or birds.