There was the sweet-voiced bell-bird, a pretty little creature, whose notes ring with a silver sound; there was the pert pied bird, which might seem really a magpie, if it were not tailless, which has a low flute-like song, swelling like the organ; whence it is named by the colonists the organ-magpie; and as each strain of these warblers died away, the loud, hoarse, derisive notes of a curious bird, resembling none of the known species of the world, seemed to ridicule the musical performers.
"No doubt, papa," said Hugh, "this must be the 'laughing jackass,' of which we have read an account. Do you hear the regular 'Ha! ha! ha!' from which he derives his name, and which sounds so strangely when mingled with the notes of the warblers? But now he has roused all the cockatoos and parrots, who are screaming their jargon above all other sounds."
"Just listen, Hugh," said Gerald, "those jackass birds are surely blowing a penny trumpet. Did you ever hear such a noise--laughing, braying, trumpeting? you might fancy you were at a country fair. How Ruth does stare! I say, Ruth, what do you think of them?"
"Will they be Christians, Master Gerald?" asked the trembling girl.
"Hopeless heathens, Ruth," answered the wild boy; "feathered donkeys, flying punches, instinctive mocking-birds, repeating sounds which they have never heard. See, papa, there is one of the jolly fellows, perched on yon gum-tree. What a monstrous beak he has!"
"I contemplate the bird with great interest, my boy," answered Mr. Mayburn. "It has been classed with the Halcyons by naturalists, and named _Dacelo gigantea_; yet, in its social habits, and flexible and apt organs of voice, it seems rather to resemble the jay. It is somewhat remarkable that amidst the gorgeously-attired birds that surround it, this rarely-gifted bird wears a garb so simple and unadorned. You observe that it frequents the gum-tree, and its sombre plumage, assimilating so happily with the gray foliage of the tree, is at once a protection and a distinction. How rejoiced I should be, my dear boy, if we could make a complete collection of these rare creatures; but the difficulties of transporting them safely in our journey are insurmountable."