260 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA 



recurved on itself and edged with black." (R. Bowdler Sharpe.) The 

 under surface ashy-brown; bill and nostrils black; bare space round eye 

 lead-colour; legs and feet black, the scales mealy; iris blackish -brown. 

 Total length 38 inches, culmen 1.65, wing 11, tail 24, tarsus 4.4. The 

 female lacks the beautiful lyre-shaped tail, and is smaller, 33 inches. 

 The other species are similarly plumaged, the slight differences being 

 indicated in the key to the species. 



Lyre-birds are confined to the Eastern strip of Australia. It 

 has been suggested that they would flourish in Tasmania, and it 

 is to be hoped that the suggestion will be acted on, and that 

 birds will be introduced into that island in which the Fox is not 

 likely to get a footing. "Where properly protected, as in the 

 National Park of New South Wales, they do well, and it is to 

 be hoped that, as their natural haunts are invaded by the Fox 

 and the illicit sportsman and collector, fresh harbovirs will be 

 found for these beautiful and musical denizens of the forest. 

 They frequent retired and shady gullies from sea level to the 

 tops of the ranges. Gould met with the bird in abundance at 

 Western Port and Illawarra, and it is not unknown even now- 

 adays at the head of Sydney Middle Harbour and in the Port 

 Hacking district. But it is chiefly in the gullies of the ranges 

 that the birds are now met with, and where their habits may be 

 studied. The best spots are where the bird still survives in 

 scrubs adjacent to clearings. The birds and eggs are closely 

 protected by law. 



Naturally shy birds, they require careful approach. When 

 you have discovered their haunts by waiting patiently in con- 

 cealment and quiet, j^ou may secure good views, and be able to 

 watch them building or playing on their mounds, or be favoured 

 by one of their marvellous musical recitals. The birds rarely 

 fly, and to no great height, and then mostly when disturbed, or 

 betaking themselves to a lower branch of a tree. They run rapidly 

 along the roughnesses of the rocky gullies, tangled with bruslh 

 and creepers, and beset with rotten logs and boughs, the legs 

 being long and strong and the thigh muscles powerful, and they 

 have extraordinary powers of springing vip the sides of the 

 precipitous ravines, so that pursuit is hopeless. 



Morning and evening are the times of activity, when the 

 birds are most seen and heard. They move about rapidly, 

 scratching up the dead leaves and bark to obtain the centipedes , 



