PLATE VI 
MOUND-BUILDING BIRDS 
1 , Lyretail Menura Menura novce-hollandiee Latham—1A. Female 
Men-uV-a-G k, menos, might; Gk, oura, tail: novce-hollandia :-of New 
Holland. 
distribution. South-eastern Australia, from Stanthorpe (southern 
Queensland) to Victoria. 
notes. Also called Superb Lyre-bird, Lyre-bird, and Native 
Pheasant. The vernacular name above, being more appropriate, has 
been adopted. Generally observed singly, occasionally in pairs, 
inhabiting the brushes and big scrubs. It is the king of all bird mimics, 
imitating most of the calls of other species of birds in its locality, as 
well as sounds produced through human agency. It has several calls 
of its own. the chief of which is a resounding “Choo! chool chool 
usually uttered at daybreak, or as a prelude to a bush-bird concert, 
when it is not unusual for a Lyretail, male or female, to imitate as 
many as twenty different calls of birds. It is a very shy bird and is 
more often heard than seen, the male especially beingahvays difficult 
to approach. The male builds for himself “dancing , display , or 
“scratching” mounds, which are low hillocks about 3 feet across, 
which he rakes up in the damp soil of the scrubs. As a rule, he makes 
a series of these mounds and visits them in turn, stopping long enoug 1 
at each to display and give his repertoire of calls. A male in display 
is a magnificent spectacle, and it is then only that the observer sees 
his beautiful lyre-shaped tail to advantage. The tail !S spread like 
an opened fan over his back and head, thus showing the light under¬ 
colouring of the feathers, which contrasts with the rather sombre 
colouring above. The tasks of nest-building, incubating the egg, and 
rearing the young one are performed entirely by the female, and it is 
doubtful if the male ever visits the nest. During the day the Lyretail 
spends its time on the ground scratching among the fallen leaves and 
debris, or tearing rotten logs to pieces in search of food, which consists 
of insects of various kinds, worms, land crustaceans and small land 
molluscs. At night it roosts high up in the branches of tall trees. 
Truly it is the world's wonder bird. 
nest. A bulky structure with an entrance at the side, composed 
outwardly of sticks, twigs, dried fern leaves, and mosses, with an inner 
wall neatly made of wiry rootlets and bark-fibre; lined with long downy 
feathers from the flanks and back of the bird. Usually built on aledge 
of rock, in the end of a hollow log, in a hole in a stump, on top ot a 
leaning tree-fern, or between the trunks of two small trees. 
