LYRE BIRD 
The lyre bird has received its name from the male’s spectacular long tail, 
the outer feathers of which are so curved as to resemble the frame of a lyre, 
while the inner feathers run straight, resembling the strings. The female’s 
tail, which is long and wedge-shaped, lacks this distinction. The male’s 
lyre does not reach perfection until his fourth year. Both male and female 
moult annually after the breeding season, resuming their full plumage the 
next spring. 
The lyre bird’s song is liquid and pleasant; this bird can mimic the 
cries of other birds and even of animals common in its environment, such 
as the dingo and wild dog. 
Lyre birds prosper in captivity, although rarely exhibited. One male 
is reported to have learned to mimic the human voice, a violin, a piano, a 
cornet, a saw, a squealing pig and a crying child. The bird was able to 
utter complete phrases. 
In its native haunts in South Australia, the somber brown lyre bird 
is extremely shy and wary, often seeking out the most inaccessible gullies 
and ravines. It does not fly when in danger but runs away swiftly on its 
long powerful legs, holding its tail in a horizontal position and sometimes 
executing extraordinary leaps. Lyre birds are not gregarious. Each pair 
takes its own territory and assumes exclusive rights over the local snails 
and insects. One pair never trespasses on another’s domain. 
The lyre bird builds a large, well woven, dome-shaped nest either on 
the ground or in a tree fork, sometimes eighty feet high. An entrance is 
made at one side of the nest, and here the female deposits her single dark 
egg. In entering and in leaving the nest, she proceeds backward. The male 
meanwhile builds mounds of earth upon which he tramples, struts, and 
displays his tail. The incubation period lasts from August to September. 
The hen sits on the eggs, sometimes being relieved by her mate. 
The lyre bird has short, rounded wings and is a weak flier. To reach 
its nest, it hops lightly and noiselessly from limb to limb, sometimes half¬ 
flying. 
The flesh of the lyre bird is tough and unpalatable. 
162 
