THE LYRE BIRD. 321 
Satin Bird, and is always accompanied with a tremulous mo- 
tion of the tail. 
Through a letter written from Sydney, Australia, by Dr. 
George Bennett, and published in the "Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society," London, we learn something of the Lyre 
Bird in a state of captivity. 
The bird, described in the letter of Dr. Bennett, had been 
captured when so young that it was only just able to feed 
itself. It was in the possession of a gentleman who, when 
he first obtained it, fed it with great care and regularity on 
worms, grubs, German paste and beef chopped very fine, 
but as it grew older he added hemp seed, bread, etc. ; in 
short, treating it as he would any member of the Thrush 
family. Of many specimens, of all ages, which he pur- 
chased as companions, this was the only one which survived, 
the others, brought from the Illawara district, lived but a 
short time. Apparently healthy and well when they 
whistled at dusk in the evening, the morning would present 
only a lifeless form. Others kept in an aviary in Sydney, 
survived their captivity but six months. 
On the fourth of January, no indication of sex could be 
ascertained from the plumage of the individual described. 
Twenty days afterwards, when the bird was two years and 
four months old, two of the peculiar feathers of the male 
were developing. 
This bird was in a constant state of restless activity, run- 
ning rapidly about the spacious aviary in which it was con- 
fined, and leaping upon and over the stones and branches 
placed in the enclosure, yet with all its restlessness it would 
follow the call of its owner and take food from the hands of 
those to whom it was accustomed. It mocked with great 
accuracy the Piping Crow, Wonga Pigeon, Parrots and 
various other birds in the same aviary and in the vicinity, 
and about dusk in the evening was often heard to utter its 
own peculiar whistle. 
Even in Australia this bird was so highly prized that a 
