620 



LYSONS. 



he neither confirms the statements of Shaw and 

 others respecting its powers of song, nor refutes 

 them as erroneous. His information is neverthe- 

 less interesting. The native names of the menura, 

 according to this gentleman, are " beleck beleck," 

 and " balangara ;" it is common in the mountain 

 ranges in all parts of the colony of New South 

 Wales, but it has been much thinned in its num- 

 bers in some districts, in consequence of the tail- 

 feathers of the male being saleable at Sydney, 

 where they are highly valued. In the ranges of 

 the lllawarra district, where it once abounded, 

 the menura is very rare. "The lyre-bird," ob- 

 serves Mr Bennett, " is a bird of heavy flight, but 

 swift of foot. On catching a glimpse of the 

 sportsman, it runs with rapidity, aided by the 

 wings, over logs of woods, rocks, or any obstruc- 

 tion to its progress; it seldom flies into trees 

 except to roost, and then rises only from branch 

 to branch. They build in old hollow trunks of 

 trees which are lying upon the ground, or in the 

 holes of rocks ; the nest is merely formed of dried 

 grass, or dried leaves scraped together ; the female 

 lays from twelve to sixteen eggs, of a white 

 colour, with a few scattered light blue spots; 

 the young are difficult to catch, as they run with 

 rapidity, concealing themselves among the rocks 

 and bushes. The lyre- pheasant, on descending 

 from high trees, on which it perches, has been 

 seen to fly some distance ; it is more often observed 

 during the early hours of the morning and in the 

 evening, than during the heat of the day. Like 

 all the gallinaceous tribe, it scratches about the 

 ground and roots of trees, to pick up seeds, insects, 

 &c. The aborigines decorate their greasy locks, 

 in addition to the emu feathers, with the splendid 

 tail-feathers of this bird when they can procure 

 them." Dr Latham says, " I do not find that it 

 has been yet attempted whether this bird will bear 

 confinement ; but if the trial should turn out sue- 

 cessful, it would be a fine acquisition to our mena- 

 geries." This hint has, we believe, never been 

 acted upon ; the lyre-bird has not as yet been con- 

 veyed alive to Europe. 



LYSONS, REV. DANIEL, F.R.S. F.A.S. F.H.S. 

 F.L.S., &c., was born on the 28th of April, 1762. 

 His father, the Rev. Samuel Lysons, was incum- 

 bent of Rodmarton, near Cirencester. Having 

 completed his early studies at Bath, Mr Lysons 

 graduated at St Mary Hall, Oxford. On taking 

 orders in 1784, he commenced his clerical life as 

 curate to his maternal uncle, Mr Peach, of Mort- 

 lake, in Surrey. Shortly afterwards he preached 

 by appointment, and according to custom, pub- 

 lished, the annual sermon for the Colston charity 

 at Bristol. In 1789 he removed to Putney, as 

 curate to the Rev. Dr (then Mr) Hughes, precep- 

 tor to the royal family, and afterwards canon 

 residentiary of St Paul's, in whom he found an 

 enlightened and congenial friend. Having con- 

 ceived the project of writing a topographical work 

 on the environs of London, Mr Lysons, at that 

 time possessed a limited income, and unknown to 

 the leading London booksellers, was at first de- 

 terred by considerations of risk and expense. 

 Averse to the idea of publishing by subscription, 

 he resolved on accepting the proffered loan of 

 200 from Mr Hughes and another friend ; deter- 

 mining to supply the deficiencies consequent on so 

 small a fund by labour and diligence. In the il- 

 lustration of his work he was aided by the pencil 



of his brother Samuel, whose etchings, executed 

 from drawings taken by himself, were remarked 

 for their masterly accuracy. The first edition of 

 " The Environs of London " was published in the 

 year 1792, and met with the most flattering recep- 

 tion from the public. Its rapid and extensive sale 

 soon enabled the author to repay his friends their 

 timely loan, and to realize a considerable sum to 

 himself. In 1800 Mr Lysons, on account of his 

 father's declining health, resigned the cure of Put- 

 ney, and undertook that of Rodmarton and Che- 

 renton. In 1804 the death of his father put him 

 in possession of the living of Rodmarton, as well 

 as the family property of Hempstead, inherited 

 from an elder uncle. The increase of means and 

 leisure soon suggested to his mind the commence- 

 ment of a project which, in concert with his bro- 

 ther Samuel, he had entertained since the publica- 

 tion of " The Environs of London," and for which, 

 during four years, they had made the necessary 

 collections. This work, " The Magna Britannia," 

 comprised in its design the topographical history 

 of the several counties of England in alphabetical 

 order. In the arrangement of the different depart- 

 ments of this voluminous undertaking, the great 

 mass of necessary correspondence fell on the elder 

 brother; and the whole of the general, parochial, 

 and family history was also furnished by him. No 

 sheet, however, was printed without being sub- 

 jected to the joint revision of the brothers. The 

 first part of the Britannia, comprising Bedfordshire, 

 was published in 1806. In 1819 Mr Lysons sus- 

 tained a severe blow in the death of his brother 

 Samuel. The work had now reached, in alpha- 

 betical order, the county of Devon, every parish 

 of which the two brothers had personally visited 

 in order to complete their materials. Considering 

 himself pledged to the completion of this volume, 

 he persevered so far in a task rendered irksome to 

 him by distressing recollections, but abandoned all 

 idea of carrying his project farther. In his brother, 

 warmly attached to him from childhood, and asso- 

 ciated in all his plans and feelings, he had lost a 

 coadjutor and friend not to be replaced ; and the 

 infirmities of middle age, aggravated perhaps by 

 mental and bodily exertion, had begun to tell on a 

 frame and spirits originally robust. The future 

 prosecution of the work was therefore abandoned 

 for less fatiguing but more important duties ; each 

 county, however, of the Britannia may be consi- 

 dered as a separate topographical history in itself, 

 and is in fact sold as a separate work. In 1812 

 Mr Lysons published a history of the origin and 

 progress of the meeting of the three choirs of 

 Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford, and of the 

 charity connected with it. To impart to his pub- 

 lication more than a merely local interest, he pre- 

 fixed to it a history of the parochial clergy from 

 the earliest times, containing much valuable in- 

 formation ; and which was, at the desire of his 

 friends, reprinted and sold as a separate work. 

 In 1818, he published a selection of sermons from 

 the works of Jeremy Taylor, containing those pas- 

 sages peculiarly marked by beauty of thought and 

 expression, and omitting whatever seemed unsuita- 

 ble to the present day. To the volume in ques- 

 tion were prefixed three sermons of his own, 

 preached on different public occasions. He died 

 on the 3d Jan. 1R34. He was twire married, and 

 left a family. 



