2X6 CASSEIX'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



-J 



" Its height was sixteen inches ; its body covered with a brown down, but the wings and tail 

 were already furnished with feathers of a dark-brown colour. The head was thickly covered with a 

 greyish-white down, of from one to two inches in length ; the eyes were hazel brown ; the beak 

 blackish and soft ; the legs nearly as large as those of a full-grown specimen, but it walked most 

 awkwardly, with the legs bent inwards. It rose with difficulty, the wings assisting, and, when on its 

 legs, occasionally ran for a short distance, but often fell, apparently from want of strength to move 

 the large and heavy bones of its legs properly. It constantly endeavoured to approach the camp- 

 fire, and it was a matter of some difficulty to keep it from a dangerous proximity to it. Its cry of 

 ' tching-tching' was often uttered during the daytime, as if re-calling the parent bird ; and when this call 

 was answered by its keeper feigning the note 'bullen-bullen' — the native name for the Lyre Bird, which 

 is an imitation of the old birds' cry — it followed the voice at once, and was easily led away by it. 

 It soon became very tame, and was exceedingly voracious, refusing no kind of food, but standing 

 ready, with widely-gaping bill, awaiting the approaching hand which held the food, consisting 

 principally of worms and the larvas of ants, commonly called ants' eggs, but it did not refuse bits of 

 meat, bread, &c. Occasionally it picked up ants' eggs from the ground, but was never able to 

 swallow them, the muscles of the neck not having acquired sufficient power to effect the required jerk 

 and throwing back of the head. It rarely if ever partook of water. It reposed in a nest made of 

 moss, and lined with opossum-skin, where it appeared to be quite content. While asleep the head 

 was covered with one of the wings. When called 'bullen-bullen' it awoke, looked for several seconds 

 at the disturber, soon put its head under the wing again, and took no notice whatever of other 

 sounds or voices. That the young Menura remains for a long time in the nest is proved by the 

 manner in which it disposes of its droppings ; our young captive always went backward before 

 dropping its dung, in order to avoid soiling the nest. It is probable that it leaves the nest in the 

 daytime, when the warmth of the weather invites it to do so, but that during the night it remains in 

 the nest; and if the weather should become cold the mother shelters her young, the nest being 

 large enough to contain both." 



A second species of Lyre Bird, the Menura Albcrti, is thus described by Mr. Gould : — 

 " The habits of this bird are very similar to those of the Menura superba, but having seen and 

 watched both on their playgrounds, I find the Menura Alberti is far superior in its powers of mocking 

 and imitating the cries and songs of others of the feathered race to the Menura superba. Its own 

 peculiar cry or song is also different, being of a much louder and fuller tone. I once listened to one 

 of these birds that had taken up its quarters within two hundred yards of a sawyer's hut, and he had 

 made himself perfect with all the noises of the homestead— the crowing of the cocks, the cackling of 

 the hens, the barking and howling of the dogs, and even the painful screeching of the sharpening 

 or filing of the saw. I have never seen more than a pair together. Each bird appears to have its 

 own walk or boundary, and never to infringe on the other's ground, for I have heard them day after 

 day in the same place, and seldom nearer than a quarter of a mile to each other. Whilst singing they 

 spread their tails over their heads like a Peacock, droop their wings to the ground, and at the 

 same time scratch and peck up the earth. They sing mornings and evenings, and more in winter 

 than at any other time. The young cocks do not sing until they get their full tails, which I fancy 

 is not until the fourth year, having shed them in four different stages. The two centre curved 

 feathers are the last to make their appearance. They live upon small insects, principally beetles ; 

 their flesh is not eatable, being dark, dry, and tough, and quite unlike that of other birds. They 

 commence building their nests in May, lay in June, and have young in July. They generally place 

 their nests on the side of some steep rock, where there is sufficient room to form a lodgment, so that 

 no animals or vermin can approach." 



