4i8 



Marvels of the Universe 



THE SUPERB LYRE BIRD 



BY SIR HARRY JOHNSTON, G.C.M.G. 



It will scarcely be denied that one of the world's marvels is the Lyre Bird of Australia, and that 

 being the case, and Australia having been colonized by people of Anglo-Saxon race, the readers 

 of this work will not be surprised to learn that every possible attempt is being made to exterminate 



this. largest and most remarkable of 

 Passerine birds. 



There are three species of Lyre 

 Birds, all of them restricted in 

 their range to the eastern and 

 southern parts of the island-conti- 

 nent of Australia. The largest of 

 these three species, and the one 

 here illustrated, is the Superb Lyre 

 Bird of New South Wales, which 

 is thirty-three inches long in the 

 adult male. The colour is a dark 

 umber-brown, which becomes russet 

 on the throat, while the back? has 

 a tinge of purplish-grey. The 

 naked space round the ej-es is lead- 

 blue in colour, and the two superb 

 lyrate feathers of the tail are a 

 rich chestnut-brown, marked on 

 the broad inner side of the web 

 with notches, which are semi- 

 transparent. Though the Lyre 

 Birds are unmistakably members 

 of the great Passerine order, they 

 exhibit features in their anatomy 

 and habits rendering them pecu- 

 liarly interesting as survivors of 

 early tj'pes, which were connecting 

 links assisting to bridge over the 

 interval between the birds of more 

 or less gallinaceous tj-pe, on the 

 one hand, and the cuckoos, wood- 

 peckers, and singing-birds on the 

 other. Lyre Birds live mainlj' on 

 the ground, and prefer to run and jump rather than to fly, though quite able to use their wings 

 if they wish. It is said that \A'ith their strong legs they can leap to a height of ten feet from the 

 ground at a single bound. They carr\^ the tail horizontally when they run, and with their strong 

 feet scratch amongst fallen leaves and dust, much after the fashion of pheasants and domestic 

 fowls. But although the male Lyre Birds make the utmost use of their strange tails in showing off 

 for the fascination of the female, they are apparently husbands of only one wife, before whom they 

 strut and whirl and dance with erect tail and drooping wings — pecking at the ground as they do so- 

 and uttering loud gurgling sounds. The nest is built with a dome or roof, and is constructed either 



Pholri hu'\ 



[ir. .V,ri7;<- Keiil. 



TAIL FEATHERS OF L'lRE BIRD. 



When the Lyre Bird walks or runs this exquisite arrangement of feathers 

 is carried horizontally : but when showing off to fascinate the hens, the tail is 

 hown in the photo. 



erected as sho 



