CLASS AVES. 



169 



trees or stumps, generally lining it 

 with cast-off snake-cuticles. 



The Lyre-birds of Australia are 

 noticeable for the shape of the tail 

 and their habit of making small 

 round hillocks, on which the male is 

 continually trampling while grace- 

 fully erecting and spreading its 

 plumes. 



The Paradise-birds are natives of 

 New Guinea and the adjacent islands. 

 The apoda* (footless) is the most 

 beautiful. The brilliant 

 plumed tufts beneath its 

 wings and the bright em- 

 erald green of its head 

 and neck are particularly 

 striking. 



The Weaver-birds are 

 found only in India and 

 Africa, and are named 

 from the inimitable con- 

 struction of their nests. 

 Some of these are pend- 

 ent from the twigs of 

 tall trees whose branches 

 overhang a stream, and are shaped like 

 an inverted bottle or chemical retort, with 



* The bird was so named from the absurd belief pre- 

 vailing, when it was first introduced to the civilized world, 

 that it had no feet, the cunning natives being accustomed 

 to cut them off, and to assert that the bird hung to the 

 trees by its plumes, and that it passed the breeding-season 

 in Paradise, fed on dew. 



FIG. 287. 



Me nil' ra su pfr' ba. 

 Lyrebird. ( Y ' 5 .) 



FIG. 288. 



Par a d'w' 8 a ap' 5 da. 



Emerald 

 Bird of Paradise. 



