on his Visit to Australia.



211



with great white ear-patches and crest which is erected or

depressed at will. A slight movement on my part and he had

vanished, and I saw him no more, though his whip-crack was

now and then heard.


Higher up the gully, as I quietly strolled along, a sound

greeted me which I shall not readily forget, for it was the sound

I had come out to hear. From the thickest part of the scrub

suddenly proceeded the most powerful and sonorous notes it has

ever been my good fortune to hear from any bird. The musical

notes of the Magpie, the song of the Butcher-bird and many

other bird songs emerged from the depths of the thicket, but

with a fulness and power in their utterance that could come from

one bird only, and that the Lyre Bird. There was no mistaking

it; the deep richness of those notes, the extraordinary variety

of the song, sometimes of the harshest then of the sweetest

description ; these proceeded from that prince of mockers of

which Australian ornithologists are so justly proud.


There are supposed to be three species of Lyre Birds in

Australia, all confined to the South East and East, but there are

really only two species, the so-called Menura victories being

merely a geographical race of M. supe?ba of New South Wales.

M. alberti which is found in Queensland is however quite a dis¬

tinct species, less handsome and with a differently shaped tail to

the southern species.


A bird that I was very glad to see was the Spotted Ground

Thrush ( Cinclosoma pundatuni). two of which flew up from the

ground a short distance ahead of me, their rounded tails and

wings giving them a peculiarly dove-like appearance. They

uttered no sound as they disappeared into the bush.


A small stream trickled down the steep bank, forming a

pool close to the path on which I walked. A beautiful White-

throated Thickhead (. Pachycephala gutturalis') a lovely bird with

rich yellow breast, black head and white throat, was engaged on

the ground capturing some small insects near the pool, a most

unusual place for this species which is generally seen amongst

the branches of trees. As I watched it commenced to bathe and

seemed little disturbed by my presence. I met with this bird



