262 A DESCRIPTION OP 
" Of all the birds I have ever met with," says Mr. 
Gould, " the Menura is by far the most shy and difficult 
to procure. While among the brushes, I have been sur- 
rounded by these birds, pouring forth their loud and 
liquid calls, for days together, without being able to get a 
sight of them ; and it was only by the most determined 
perseverance and extreme caution that I was enabled to 
effect this desirable object ; which was rendered the more 
difficult by their often frequenting the almost inaccessible 
and precipitous sides of gullies and ravines, covered with 
tangled masses of creepers, and umbrageous trees: the 
cracking of a stick, the rolling down of a small stone, or 
any other noise, however slight, is sufficient to alarm it ; 
and none but those who have traversed these rugged, hot, 
and suffocating brushes, can fully understand the exces- 
sive labour attendant on the pursuit of the Menura. In- 
dependently 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 when the bird's attention is occupied in 
singing, or in scratching up the leaves in search of food ; 
to watch its actions, 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 thus much on the cautiousness of the Menura, 
it is not always so alert: in some of the more accessible 
brushes through which roads have been cut, it may fre- 
quently be seen, and even on horseback closely approach- 
ed, the bird apparently evincing less fear of those animals 
than of man. At Illawarra it is sometimes successfully 
pursued by dogs trained to rush suddenly upon it, when 
it immediately leaps upon the branch of a tree, and its 
attention being attracted by the dog which stands barking 
below, it is easily approached and shot. Another success- 
ful mode of procuring specimens is, by wearing a tail of a 
full-plumaged male in the hat, keeping it constantly in 
