VII ATRICHORNITHIDAE 493 
Lyre-birds haunt precipitous sandy gullies in thick forests 
with tangled undergrowth, whether inland or near the coast ; 
and, though able to fly, live chiefly upon the ground, whence they 
leap, when scared, to branches even ten feet high. They run 
with the tail horizontal, and scratch among fallen leaves for insects 
—especially coleoptera—myriapods, worms, and molluscs; the 
solitary individuals or pairs which are usually observed being 
particularly shy. Each cock has a walk or playground, and scrapes 
little hillocks or hollows for dancing places, where he struts or 
pirouettes with erect tail and drooping wings, scratching, pecking, 
and singing at intervals. Apparently, however, he is not poly- 
gamous. The normal cry isa loud, liquid, gurgling sound; but the 
“Pheasants,” as the Colonists term them, are clever mockers, imitat- 
ing a cock’s crow, a hen’s cackle, a dog’s bark or howl, the Laughing 
Jackass’s note, or even the setting of asaw. The tail-feathers are 
said to be shed after breeding, and to be fully developed only by the 
fourth year, when males begin to sing. The oval, domed nests, 
placed on ledges of cliffs, on tops of old stumps, in forks of trees, or 
by fallen logs, are loose bulky masses of sticks, bark, grass, leaves, 
ferns, and moss, lined with roots and the bird’s feathers. The one 
large egg has a stone-grey, brown, or dark purple ground-colour, 
blotched, dotted, and streaked with purphsh or blackish-brown. 
The chicks are said to be covered with black down in JZ. victoriae, 
white in JZ alberti, and brownish in JZ. superba; and to remain 
six weeks in the nest. The hen sits with her tail curled side- 
ways or forwards. The flesh is dark, tough, and unpalatable. 
Fam. II. Atrichornithidae.— Africhornis has a large bill; 
moderate scutellated metatarsi; extremely short wings with eleven 
primaries, the outer of which is very small, and some eight second- 
aries; and a long, broad, graduated tail with twelve rectrices. 
The tongue is sagittate, the aftershaft rudimentary, and no down 
is present on adults. A. clamosa of Western Australia, about 
eight and a half inches in length, is brown above, barred with 
dusky, and reddish-white below, with a black pectoral patch ; 
A. rufescens of New South Wales has the lower parts hke the 
upper. The females appear to be unknown. These very shy 
birds haunt dense scrub, or grassy and bushy tracts, being very 
difficult of observation; they mimic the notes of other species 
cleverly, and also utter a peculiar noisy cry. They scratch in 
the ground, probably for insect-food. 
