298 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



FamHy MENURID-ffi. 



Genus MENURA, Davies. 



Two, if not three, species of this extraordinary form are 

 known to inhabit the dense woods of the south-eastern 

 portions of AustraHa; until very recently, however, the 

 M. superha was the sole representative of the genus. Other 

 species may yet be discovered when the country has been 

 more thoroughly explored. 



Sp. 179. MENURA SUPEUBA, Bavies. 



Lyre-bird. 

 Menura superba, Davies in Linn. Trans., vol. vii. p. 207, pi. 22. 

 Le Parkinson, Vieill. (Ois. Dor.) Ois. de Parad., pis. 14, 15, 16. 

 Megapodius menura, Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 1. 

 Menura lijra, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 577. 



novce-hollandice. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. Ixi. 



Parkinsonius mirabilis, Bechst. 

 Menura vulgaris, Plem. 



paradisea, Swains. Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 351. 



Superb Menura, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 271. 



Pheasant of the Colonists. 



Beleck-Beleck and Balangara of the Aborigines. 



Menura superba, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. ill. pi. 14. 



Were I requested to suggest an emblem for Australia 

 among its avifauna, I should without the slightest hesita- 

 tion select the Lyre-bird as the most appropriate, it being not 

 only strictly peculiar to that country, but one which will 

 always be regarded wdth the highest interest both by the 

 people of Australia and by ornithologists in Europe, from 

 whom it has received the specific appellations of superba, para- 

 disea, and mirabilis. 



In the structure of its feet, in its lengthened claws, and in 

 its whole contour, the Lyre-bird presents the greatest simi- 

 larity to the Pteroptochus megapodius of Kittlitz. The im- 



