When Paul Keating placed a welcoming , guiding hand on Queen Elizabeth's back , the Pommie tabloids went berserk , called him the Lizard of Oz . Right now , another notable Aussie is so close to the Queen of the Jungle that he plays with her hair !!!
He is that dashing , likeable rogue, known as Cranky Currawong ,above, who , unannounced by any palace flunkey, flew into the royal estate and began to dominate it during the festive season . He seems to have become almost as popular as Sir Francis Drake was with the Virgin Queen .
Audaciously, he regularly lands on the back of the Queen's outside throne , reaches over and plays with her locks , cheekily following up with a demand to be fed choice morsels from the royal pantry.
Over the years the Queen has received close attention from many adoring birds . There was , for example , the fledgling Torres Strait Pigeon, nicknamed Miss Wong, who liked climbing onto her shoulder for a cuddle.
And who can forget that salty tongued sailor, Larry the celebrity Lorikeet , from Mission Beach , who boarded with the Queen several times ? While residing in the royal lodge he caused confusion by imitating the ringing of a telephone and loudly muttering, "Bugger, bugger, bugger !" 
Larry , named after the cyclone in which he was injured , was a real party animal and is shown above helping himself to nibbles aboard a yacht , with adoring female company.
Larry was so popular he had rum named after him -Captain Larry-his smiling portrait on the label .
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A Coucal named Dracula ,on the prowl below, used to call on the Queen ,but was asked to move on after taking a close interest in her jugular vein and flashing his incisors .
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