ABOUT THE LYRE-BIRD. 
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rounded wing ; the toes generally long, with long claws, more or less 
curved ; but while the wren is one o€ the smallest of feathered 
minstrels, the lyre-bird is equal in size to our common pheasartt, while 
his limbs are longer and his feet much larger. 
And now for a description of this famous bird, which, had but the 
Greek poets known him, would unquestionably have occupied a con- 
spicuous place in the old m3'thology. What more suitable attendant 
could have been desired for Apollo himself? 
His favourite habitat is the low brushwood growing in the neigh- 
bourhood of the sea or the mountain slopes; but the advance of 
civilization is driving him back into rocky defiles covered with thick 
forests, where he can with difficulty be approached. Tlie rocky heights, 
says a traveller, are not explored without danger; the crevasses and 
precipices being crusted with half-decayed vegetable matter, into 
which you sink knee-deep, as in a snow-drift. A single false step, and 
you disappear, or are suspended between two rocky walls ; happy if 
you retain the use of your arms, and, with brain on fire, can extricate 
yourself from a too prolonged torture — for succour must not be expected. 
In such localities you hear the voice of the lyre-bird everywhere, but 
its owner you cannot see. Gould tells us that for whole days he 
remained in the bushes inhabited by these birds ; on eveiy side rang 
out their clear and piercing cry, but it was only by an effort of 
prudence and perseverance of which few men would be capable, that 
he eventually succeeded in catching sight of one. Such being the case, 
it is not surprising that we have still but an imperfect knowledge of 
the lyre-bird's manners and habits. However, all authorities agree that 
he is virtually a ground-bird, and that he seldom takes to the wing. 
It is with a kind of running gait that he traverses the forests, and 
scales the cliffs ; it is with a leap and bound that he rises abrujjtly to 
a height of ten or twelve feet, and gains the summit of a rocky 
pinnacle. Apparently he makes use of his wings only to descend to 
the bottom of a ravine or valley. 
Towards all animals he observes a remarkable degree of wariness ; 
but especially does he exercise his prudence in avoiding man. He 
does not appear to favour the society of his congeners ; at least, he is 
