58 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



cry of a child : and not the least among his accom- 

 plishments is his dancing. In this field he is unique 

 indeed. 



Perhaps no other bird dancer has a more delight- 

 ful and varied costume, though his large feet would 

 seem to be against him. His exquisite lyre-like 

 tail, from which he derives his name, is the glory 

 and the despair of other dancers. This feathered 

 instrument is formed of two wonderfully curved 

 outer feathers with transparent patches of delicate, 

 silk-like feathers which appear like notches extend- 

 ing along the entire inner side of the web; there 

 are also a number of soft, fairy-like plumes resem- 

 bling the feathers of the bird of paradise. 



The lyre-bird's plumage attains perfection only 

 after four years of growth, and then it remains with 

 him for only a brief period before it is moulted. He 

 is very proud of his wonderful lyre, and when he 

 travels through the woods he carries it straight in 

 line with his body. This assures its protection. 

 When he wishes to attract the attention of the op- 

 posite sex, he sings and dances, hops and jumps, 

 springs up into a nearby tree, flops again to the 

 ground, goes through all sorts of weird and grace- 

 ful movements and gestures, and poses his body in 

 all imaginable ways. This is followed by a series 



