The Emu 



Official Organ of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 



The Lyre-Bird, Menura novae-hollandiae/LBthsLm 



A Key to Varieties, or Sub-species. 



By A. j. CAMPBELL, C.ALB.O.U., F.A.O.U. 



L ALintle brownish (mummy brown) ; outer (lyre-shaped) 

 tail feathers notched on the inner web with broad bars of chest- 

 nut reaching to the shaft — male; outer tail feathers with narrow 

 bars of chestnut almost reaching to shaft — female. 

 M. n. victoria. Victoria Lyre-Bird. 



2. Mantle brownish (or fuscous) ; outer (lyre-shaped) tail 

 feathers notched with hazel bars reaching to within quarter of 

 an inch of shaft — male; tail bars hazel, narrow, and half an inch 

 apart — female. M. n. novce-hollandicr. Lyre-Bird. 



3. Mantle olive-brow^n ; outer (lyre-shaped) tail feathers 

 notched with tawny or russet bars, reaching to within a quarter 

 of an inch of shaft — male; tail bars tawny, narrow, and three- 

 quarters of an inch apart — female. 



M. n. edwardi. Edward Lyre-Bird. 



Note. — The above descriptions are taken from material in 

 the "H. L. White Collection," National Museum, Melbourne. 

 M. n. edwardi was described by Mr. A. H. Chisholm, R.A.O.U., 

 Bniii, XX., p. 221, while most valuable field observations on this 

 northern variety, contributed by Dr. Spencer Roberts, R.A.O.U., 

 here follow. It will be observed that the Victoria Lyre-Bird in 

 general coloration is darkest, the common Lyre-Bird lighter, 

 and the Edward lightest. Again, in the Victoria bird the bars 

 of the lyre feathers cross the inner web to the shaft, whereas in 

 the other two varieties the bars fall short of the shaft by about 

 a quarter of an inch. Another interesting point is that in the 

 outer tail feathers of the female Edw^ard bird, the tips aie black, 

 or blackish, as in the male. Not so in the other two varieties. 



I\Ir. H. L. White, R.A.O.U., most generously defrays the cost 

 of the accompanying coloured plate. 



* Former name M. superba, historically the older name, but nomenclators 

 hold that nov(B-hollandicB was first published. A.J.C. 



