Laughing kookaburra there. He probably obtained a preserved specimen from one of the naturalists who accompanied Captain James Cook to the east coast of Australia. Edme-Louis Daubenton and François-Nicolas Martinet included a coloured plate of the laughing kookaburra based on Sonnerat's specimen in their "Planches enluminées d'histoire naturelle". The plate has the legend in French ""Martin-pecheur, de la Nouvelle Guinée"" (Kingfisher from New Guinea). In 1783, the French naturalist Johann Hermann provided a formal description of the species based the coloured plate by Daubenton and Martinet. He gave it the scientific name "Alcedo novæ Guineæ". The current genus "Dacelo" was introduced in
HMAS Kookaburra HMAS Kookaburra HMAS "Kookaburra" (A331) was a "Net"-class boom defence vessel of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), which served during World War II. "Kookaburra" was of three ships ordered by the Royal Australian Navy for use as boom-net defence vessels. She was laid down by the Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney on 4 April 1938, launched on 29 October 1938, and commissioned into the RAN on 28 February 1939. Originally used as boom defence ship and anti-submarine training vessel in Sydney, "Kookaburra" was transferred to Darwin in April 1940. The ship served as a