Vol- V.~j KiTSON, Notes on the Victoria Lyre-Bird. 6? 



190S J ^ ^ I 



weather. On a misty day, when steady, Hght rain is falling, they 

 may, perhaps, be said to be heard to the greatest advantage. 



Lyre-Birds are inveterate scratchers, and are almost unceasingly 

 at such work, somewhere or other in the bush. They must do a 

 great deal of good by destroying myriads of insects destructive 

 to vegetation. Unwittingly they also do a certain amount of harm, 

 by partially obliterating tracks, filling up side cuttings and survey 

 trenches, and uprooting or burying survey pegs. Some years ago 

 I remember seeing a recently made track over the Bogong Pass, 

 in Victoria, which had been rendered impracticable for horse 

 traffic through being filled up in some places with masses of rock, 

 logs of wood, and other dcbri'i. These had rolled down the steep 

 sides of the mountain on account of their supports of humus and 

 soil having been scratched away by these birds. Again, it is often 

 imjiossible to exactly locate a survey trench or peg in Lyre-Bird 

 (" Pheasant," as it is called by selectors) country, sometimes even 

 shortly after they have been placed there. This causes some 

 difficulty when the Itlaze (a>ie-cut mark) on the tree has been 

 destro3'ed by bush fires. This habit of scratching amongst decayed 

 vegetation and soil may account for the abundance of lice which, 

 Mr. W. Baragwanath, jun., informs me, are to be found on most of 

 these birds in the Baw Baw district of Gippland. 



I have spoken of the flight of Lyre-Birds as a floating. As far 

 as I have noticed they do not rise upwards in the air like a soaring 

 bird, and cannot make a proper upward flight. But in going to 

 a lower place they simply jump off a log or rock into the air with 

 their wings outspread, and float or glide through it down a slope 

 into a gully, sometimes taking advantage, every here and there, 

 of a log or rock from which to get an additional spring. In a few 

 seconds they can descend several hundreds of feet with very little 

 apparent motion of the wings. It is an interesting sight to see the 

 dark brown form of a departing Lyre-Bird as it hops on a fallen 

 tree, floats under a tree-fern, or jumps off into space — silent, save 

 for its first shrill whistle of alarm. While Lyre-Birds are fond of 

 tree-fern gullies and dogwood {Cassinia aculeata and C. longifolia), 

 " native hop " {Daviesia latifolia), and " wild hop " {Goodcnia 

 ovata) slopes and ridges, they are very partial to the patches of 

 "blanket-wood" {Senecio hedjordi). This plant grows into small 

 trees with lateral Ijranches, and large, thick leaves, arranged more 

 or less horizontally, thus forming a canopy. The ground beneath 

 is usually not covered with ferns and small plants, but with decayed 

 leaves and twigs, while the branches form convenient perches for 

 the Lyre-Birds. There are thus open spaces between the foliage 

 and the ground, and the birds are fond of moving about in them, 

 hence the scrub is called locally " Pheasant scrub." 



