BIRDS 149 



as though in play. Mr. Leycester, whose evidence is quoted 

 by Gould, says that each male of M. Alberti seems to have 

 its own walk or boundary, and never to infringe on the 

 other's ground. He says that 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. 



There is thus no reason to doubt the erection of the tail and 

 the gestures of the male, which resemble those of a barn-door 

 cock in courtship ; but the particular relation of these actions 

 to the behaviour of the female or the rivalry of other males 

 has not been described. Darwin states that if. Alberti makes 

 shallow holes, in which it is believed that both sexes assemble, 

 but in Gould's Handbook we find it stated that only a single 

 bird is found in one of these holes, in which it seems to be 

 feeding. It would almost seem from these observations 

 that the male performs his duties all by himself, without any 

 stimulus from the immediate presence of the female or rival 

 males. But the bird is exceedingly shy and difficult to 

 observe. It may be conjectured that when the male is show- 

 ing off the female is in sight of him, and it is possible that 

 one male visits three or four females which are building 

 nests in different inaccessible places. At one period or 

 another also there must be rivalry between the males. One 

 traveller, quoted by Mr. Wood in 1870, is said to have once 

 observed about 150 male lyre-birds all fighting together 

 with indescribable fury, but this is the only evidence 

 known to me of the birds assembling together. It is 

 generally concluded from the evidence available that the 

 bird is monogamous. 



The remarkable tail of the Lyre-bird is not fully developed 

 until the third or fourth year of age, and at the end of the 

 breeding season, in October, the feathers are shed, not to be re- 

 newed, at any rate in the same form, till the following summer. 



