SHEATH-BILL — MENURA. 385 



The New-Holland Menura ( 47 ) in meadow or wood, 

 Or on Van Diemen mountains, was seeking its food ; 

 And, perchance, even now, undiscovered remain, 

 On that Continent-Isle* — some Australian plain; — 

 Or where bursts the huge stream from the mountain's 



cleft side ; — 

 Where, through woodlands and meadows its waters 



may glide; — 

 Unable to swim, and unable to fly, 

 Many groups that description at present defy. 



distinguished by a short, thick, conic, compressed bill, the upper 

 mandible covered above with a moveable horny sheath ; nostrils 

 small, placed before the sheath 5 tongue above round, beneath 

 flattened, pointed at the tip; face naked, papillous; wings 

 with an obtuse excrescence under the flexure ; legs strong ; 

 four toed ; from fifteen to eighteen inches long; feeds on shell- 

 fish and carcasses; inhabits New Zealand and the South Sea 

 Islands. 



( 47 ) Order, Galling, (Lath.) New-Holland Menura. 



The genus Menura, (Lath.) consists of one species only, the 

 Novcb Hollandice, New-Holland Menura, or Mountain- Phea- 

 sant. It has a stout conico-convex black bill, and oval nostrils ; 

 legs long, black, very strong, formed for walking, and covered 

 with large scales ; a long tail, consisting of sixteen loose webbed 

 feathers, the two middle ones narrow, and greatly exceeding 

 the others in length; the outer one on each side broader 

 and curved at the end; size of a hen pheasant; the whole 

 length more than three feet and a half; plumage above brown, 

 fore part of the neck rufous, beneath brownish-ash. The female, 

 in colour, resembles the male, but is much smaller. Found in 

 the mountainous districts of New Holland, where it is said to be 



* New Holland, or Australia. 



S 



