MOUND-BUILDING BIRDS 
37 
PLATE VI 
MOUND-BUILDING BIRDS 
1. Lyretail Menura Mennra novce-hollandice Latham—1A. Female 
Men-iir-a —Gk, menos, might; Gk, our a, 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! choo! choo \ y? usually uttered at daybreak, or as a 
prelude to a busli-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 
being always 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 
enough 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 is 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 a ledge 
of rock, in the end of a hollow log, in a hole in a stump, on top of a lean¬ 
ing tree-fern, or between the trunks of two small trees. 
