Page 21 - LOTN Spring Issue 52 2023

FAITH AND CULTURE
“Laugh, laugh, Kookaburra laugh”

BY FR GILES CONACHER kookaburra, but much larger than I’d imagined. If you visit
the Passionists in Melbourne – in the east of the country
– you will see that their lawns are mown quite short. This
has nothing to do with tidiness, and everything to do with
snakes and kookaburras: if the grass is short, the snakes
can’t hide, the kookaburras can see them, hunt them down
and kill them – very useful!
There was a pair living in a hole in a palm tree near the
church at the monastery we visited, that was their nest, and
they had one chick. You could see them, especially in the
evening, sitting dangling a small snake from their beaks, as
much to say, “Look what a useful job I’m doing!”
For some reason, laughing kookaburras were confined
to eastern Australia, a pity the bird is so useful, so they
were introduced to Western Australia, where they continue
their good work. They are easy to recognise, partly by their
shape, but especially on account of their very large dagger-
like beak, perfect for dealing with snakes, even more so
hen I was a little boy, sometime last by their song, their “laughing”, because that’s the sound of
century, we were taught a song at school, their call, it sounds like someone who has completely lost
perhaps via a BBC wireless broadcast - it the plot; wildly hysterical laughter.
Wwent, as I remember: So now I know what that little song was talking about,
even if it’s taken me about sixty years to find out – better
“Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree, late than never!
Merry old king of the bush is he,
Laugh, laugh, kookaburra laugh,
Kookaburra, gay your life must be”

Of course, like many things one learned at school, this Fertility Care Scotland
was a meaningless jingle – what was a kookaburra? What
was a gum tree? I had no clue. As life went on, I learned that
a kookaburra was a bird, and had a rough idea what they
looked like, but no idea of their size and habits, and that Looking to Plan a Family
gum trees were eucalyptus, and all this was in Australia, but Naturally & Effectively?
beyond that…
In the past five years, monastic duties have taken me to
Australia three times, and I now have clearer ideas about Attend our free Natural Family Planning clinics
gum trees and kookaburras. Eucalyptus trees grow in being taught in Aberdeenshire and across
Britain, but there is a huge variety of them, all shapes and Scotland, both virtually and in-person. Gain
sizes, not all of which are to be found round here. confidence to achieve or space pregnancies
Kookaburras, on the other hand, are not to be seen in naturally. Find out more with Fertility Care Scotland.
Britain, unless perhaps in captivity. There are two varieties
in Australia, the blue-winged and the laughing kookaburra Contact us at info@fertilitycare.org.uk
(Dacelo novaeguineae). The blue-winged are more in the or 0141 221 0858 for details.
north. They are members of the kingfisher family but,
confusingly, they don’t hunt fish. There are effectively two
kinds of kingfishers, ones that catch fish, and ones that "This is knowledge of her body that
don’t, and they vary from dwarf kingfishers (10cm) that every woman ought to have."
will easily fit inside your closed fist to larger customers – in Dr Evelyn Billings
West Africa and Australia, about the size of a crow or a rook,
around 46 cm, and these hunt insects, lizards and snakes, Visit our website: www.fertilitycare.org.uk
sitting in trees or on telegraph wires and then diving down
on their prey. Follow us on Facebook & Instagram: @FertilityCareScotland
Kookaburras are at the large end of the spectrum and Join us on twitter: @Fertility-Scot
specialise in snakes. They are quite an impressive size, 40
– 47 cm, say the books. I remember when I first saw one, Fertility Care Scotland is a registered charity with
sitting on a garden fence in Perth, it was unmistakeably a OSCR (SCO51574) and Companies House (SC721652)
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