HABITS OF THE LYRE-BIRD. 
195 
or any other noise, however slight, is sufficient to alarm it ; and none but those who have 
traversed these rugged, hot, and suffocating bushes, can fully understand the anxious labor 
attendant on the pursuit of the Menura. 
“ Independently of climbing over rocks and fallen trunks of trees, the sportsman has 
to creep and crawl beneath and among the branches with the utmost caution, taking care 
only to advance while the bird’s attention is occupied in singing, or in scratching up the leaves 
in search of food ; to watch its action it is necessary to remain perfectly motionless, not 
venturing to move even in the slightest degree, or it vanishes from sight as if by magic. 
Although I have said so much on the cautiousness of the Menura, it is not always so 
alert ; in some of the more accessible bushes through which roads have been cut, it may 
frequently be seen, and on horseback even closely approached, the bird evincing less fear 
of those animals than of man. 
“At Illawarra it is sometimes successfully pursued by dogs framed to rush suddenly upon 
it, when it immediately leaps upon the branch of a tree, and its attention being attracted by 
the dog below barking, it is easily approached and shot. Another successful mode of procur- 
ing specimens is by wearing the tail of a full-plumaged male in the hat, keeping it constantly 
in motion, and concealing the person among the bushes, when, the attention of the bird being 
arrested by the apparent intrusion of another of its own sex, it will be attracted within the 
range of the gun. If the bird be hidden from view by surrounding objects, any unusual sound, 
such as a shrill whistle, will generally induce him to show himself for an instant, by causing 
him to leap with a gay and sprightly air upon some neighboring branch to ascertain the cause 
of the disturbance ; advantage must be taken of this circumstance immediately, or the next 
moment it may be half-way down the gully. 
“ The Menura seldom, if ever, attempts to escape by flight, but easily eludes pursuit by 
its extraordinary powers of running. None are so efficient in obtaining specimens as the 
naked black, whose noiseless and gliding steps enable him to steal upon it unheard or unper- 
ceived, and with a gun in his hand he rarely allows it to escape, and in many instances he will 
even kill it with his own weapons. 
“ The Lyre-bird is of a wandering disposition, and although it probably keeps to the same 
bush, it is constantly engaged in traversing it from one end to the other, from the mountain 
base to the top of the gullies, whose steep and rugged sides present no obstacle to its long 
legs and powerful, muscular thighs. It is also capable of performing extraordinary leaps, 
and I have heard it stated that it will spring ten feet perpendicularly from the ground. 
Among its many curious habits, the only one at all approaching to those of the Gfallinaceee is 
that of forming small round hillocks, which are constantly visited during the day, and upon 
which the male is continually tramping, at the same time erecting and spreading out its tail 
in the most graceful manner, and uttering its various cries, sometimes pouring forth its 
natural notes, at others imitating those of other birds, and even the howling of the native 
dog (Dingo). The early morning and the evening are the periods when it is most animated 
and active. 
“Although upon one occasion I forced this bird to take wing, it was merely for the pur- 
pose of descending a gulf, and I am led to believe that it seldom exerts this power unless 
under similar circumstances. It is peculiarly partial to traversing the trunks of fallen trees, 
and frequently attains a considerable altitude by leaping from branch to branch. Independ- 
ently of a loud full note, which may be heard reverberating over the gullies for at least a 
quarter of a mile, it has also an inward warbling song, the lower notes of which can only be 
heard within about fifteen yards. It remains stationary while singing, fully occupied in 
pouring forth its animated strain. This it frequently discontinues abruptly, and again 
commences with a low, inward, snapping noise, ending with an imitation of the loud 
aud full note of the satin-bird, and always accompanied by a tremulous motion of the 
tail. 
‘ 4 The food of the Menura appears to consist principally of insects, particularly of centi- 
pedes and coleoptera. I also found the remains of shelled snails in the gizzard, which is very 
strong and muscular,” 
