DANCERS 57 



Should the turkey hens refuse to pay attention 

 to his marvellous stunts, he continues to stretch his 

 wings to his sides as he assumes the most varied and 

 commanding positions imaginable and clucks as 

 though he were saying, "Notice me! Behold my 

 grandeur! Am I not a wonder?" And should a 

 lovely bronze beUe deign to notice him, he dis- 

 plays his plumage to the greatest advantage by 

 spreading his massive tail, sweeping the ground 

 with his quivering and expanded wings, while his 

 proud head is drawn back with the dignity of a 

 prancing circus horse. 



Should he be approached by a rival wooer, then 

 a battle royal ensues, and ends only in death or a 

 dishonourable retreat by one of the contestants. 

 The victorious warrior is truly a proud bird! He 

 struts through the woods, loudly announcing his 

 victory and calling attention to his magnificent 

 warrior-hke proclivities. 



One of the most singular, surely the most beau- 

 tiful, and perhaps the most versatile, feathered ar- 

 tist is the lyre-bird of the Southern Archipelago. 

 It is difficult to classify him according to any one of 

 his accomplishments. He is ranked among the 

 mocking-birds as a songster; he is one of the leading 

 birds as a trick-artist and imitator: he mimics the 

 sound of everything from a croaking frog to the 



