1720 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



entered through a long tube, built at a point about halfway up the side, and formed 

 by the interlocking of thorny twigs; and although the diameter of the passage is 

 only large enough to admit the old birds one at a time, yet they pass out with ease 

 and rapidity. In Colombia this spine tail varies the form of its nest, making it as 

 large as that of an English magpie, and roofing the top with a mass of large leaves 

 to protect it from the heavy rains. The adult bird has the forehead gray; the crown 

 of the head pale chestnut; the sides of the head, neck, back, and tail, pale earthy 

 brown; the upper wing coverts pale chestnut; the primaries olive brown, and the 

 lower parts white tinged with brown. 



THE LYRE BIRDS 

 Family MENURID^ 



The last representatives of the order that can be mentioned here are the 

 aberrant lyre birds of Australia, where they are represented by three species, all 

 included in the genus Menura, of which the typical and best-known form is the 

 common lyre bird (M. superba) , of New South Wales. Altogether abnormal in their 

 structure, these remarkable and highly specialized birds can scarcely be assigned to 

 either of the two great groups into which the Passerines are divided, and they must 

 accordingly be regarded as standing to a great extent by themselves. Of very large 

 size, the lyre birds are especially characterized by the great development of the tail 

 feathers of the male, which assume a lyrate form, the majority being devoid of 

 hooklets, and thus having the webs formed of separate plumules. The general 

 color of the plumage is brown; but while in the typical species the large pair of 

 outer tail feathers have reddish-brown transverse bars on a light ground, in Prince 

 Albert's lyre bird (M. alberti) these feathers are uniformly colored. The lyre birds 

 are remarkable for their power of imitating the cries and songs of other birds, this 

 faculty being most developed in the species last mentioned, and they are also pecu- 

 liar in making play grounds somewhat similar to those of some of the bower birds. 

 After remarking that he had never seen more than a single pair together, Gould 

 observes, of Prince Albert's lyre bird, that each bird appears to have its own walk 

 or boundary, and never to infringe on the others' ground, for they may be heard 

 day after day in the same place, and seldom nearer than a quarter of a mile to each 

 other. While singing, they spread their tails over their heads like a peacock, and 

 droop their wings to the ground, and at the same time scratch and peck up the 

 earth. They sing mornings and evenings, and more so in winter than at any other 

 time. The young cocks do not sing until they get their full tails, which apparently 

 is not until the fourth year; the two central curved feathers being the last to appear. 

 Feeding upon small insects, and more especially beetles, they commence nesting in 

 May; the eggs being laid in June, and the young hatched in the following month. 

 The nest is constructed of small sticks, interwoven with moss and fibres of roots; 

 while internally it is lined with the skeleton leaf of the parasitical tree fern, which 



