98 THE LYRE-BIRD. 



That the lyre-bird is not a gallinaceous bird, we have 

 little hesitation in affirming. Its size, as Cuvier observes, 

 and more especially its terrestrial habits, which may in 

 some respects resemble those of a fowl, have contributed 

 to the establishment of this opinion, which the name 

 mountain pheasant, given it by the colonists, has probably 

 helped to confirm, but which general currency does not 

 necessarily render true. Neither in the beak, the feet, nor 

 (we may add) the plumage of the lyre-bird, do we recog- 

 nise the characters of one of the gallinaceous order. On 

 the other hand, there are certain genera usually regarded 

 as forming part of the family of thrushes, to which in every 

 essential character the .genus menura closely approximates ; 

 and with these it will, we think, be found to be in immedi- 

 ate affinity. As, however, our object is not to enter into 

 an abstruse account of the affinities of genera, we shall 

 add nothing (arid much might be added) to the above ob- 

 servation, but confine ourselves to the description and the 

 habits of this interesting and elegant bird. 



The menura equals a common pheasant in size, but its 

 limbs are longer in proportion, and its feet much larger ; 

 its toes are armed with large arched blunt claws ; the 

 hind-toe is as long as are the fore-toes, the length of these 

 being nearly equal, but its claw is larger than that of any 

 of the others ; the scales of the tarsi and toes are large 

 bold plates, and their color is glossy black ; t-he head is 

 small ; the beak, as Cuvier has described it, is triangular 

 at the base, pointed and compressed at the tip ; in the 

 male the feathers of the head are elongated into a crest ; 

 the wings are short, concave, and rounded, and the quill- 

 feathers are lax and feeble ; the general plumage is full, 

 deep, soft, and downy. The tail is modified into a beau- 

 tiful, long, plume-like ornament, representing, when erect 

 and expanded, the figure of a lyre, whence the name of 

 lyre-bird. This ornamental tail is, however, confined to 

 the male. In the female the tail is long and graduated, 



