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
Kookaburra (aircraft) and adventurer Dick Smith mounted an expedition in 1977 to find the "Kookaburra" but was unsuccessful. He searched again in 1978 and this time succeeded in finding the remains of the aircraft. The remains of "Kookaburra" were moved to a public display at Alice Springs Airport and are currently at the Central Australian Aviation Museum. Kookaburra (aircraft) Kookaburra was a Westland Widgeon light aircraft registered G-AUKA. When Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew in the Southern Cross disappeared during the "Coffee Royal" incident in 1929, pilot Keith Anderson and mechanic Bob Hitchcock flew in "Kookaburra" to search for the