Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS

THE FALSE SONG BIRDS

THE LYRE-BIRDS

(Family Menurida)
Gould, the celebrated author of the”Birds of Australia,”states that if called upon to select an emblem for Australia from among the birds, he would without hesitation designate the Lyre-bird as the most appropriate, and it could hardly be denied that the choice would be a wise one, for of the many interesting avian forms peculiar to the island continent perhaps none is more eminently characteristic or generally attractive. Three species are known, all belonging to the genus Memira and all confined to South Australia. They are large birds, about two and a half or three feet long, with a rather long neck and large head, the bill being elongated, conical, and sharp-pointed. The wings are rather short and rounded and contain twenty-one quills, while the legs and feet are very strong, with long and nearly straight claws. In the female and immature male the tail, although long, presents no very peculiar features, but in the adult male of two of the species it has an extraordinary development and shape. It consists of sixteen feathers, the two outer feathers being first slightly curved outward, then inward, and again outward abruptly near the tips, thus producing a lyre-like form, and further each of these feathers has the outer web very narrow and the inner web very broad. The inner pair of feathers is nearly as peculiar, being without a web on the outside and with a very narrow one on the inside, while they cross each other near the base and bend forward near the tips. The remaining tail-feathers are beset with long, flowing, hair-like barbs about a fourth of an inch apart, these being without barbules. In the other species, known as Prince Albert's Lyre-bird (M. alberti), the tail is very different, not being uniform, in fact has the outer feathers shorter than the others The plumage of all is sooty brown above and brownish ash-color below, with more or less rufous on the chin, wings, and throat.
The systematic position of the Lyre-bird has been much discussed. It was first regarded as a Pheasant, later as a Bird-of-Paradise, and finally has come to be considered as without any very close affinities, although in some respects showing characters intermediate between the Woodpeckers and the other passerine groups. The first and best-known species is the Lyre-bird par excellence (M. superba) of New South Wales and southern Queensland. It is found alike in the”scrub”along the coast and along the mountain sides in the interior, usually being exceedingly shy at all times and under all conditions. On this point Gould says: “While among the brushes I have been surrounded by these birds, pouring forth their loud and liquid calls, for days together, without being able to get a sight of them, this being rendered the more difficult by their often frequenting the most 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 them.”They are solitary in their habits, rarely more than a pair being seen together, and are constantly wandering through the brush. Among the many curious habits is that of forming small round hillocks, which are constantly visited during the day and upon which the male is continually trampling, at the same time erecting and spreading out his tail in the most graceful manner. When alarmed they run through the bush with the greatest rapidity, carrying the tail horizontally. The male is a singer of no mean attainments, having a variety of calls and notes of his own, as well as being an expert imitator of the notes of other birds and even the howling of the Dingo. The early morning and evening are the periods when they are most animated and active. The nest, which is artfully concealed, is placed on the ledge of a projecting rock, on the top of a stump, or the base of a tree. It is of large size, formed outwardly of large sticks and lined with the inner bark of trees and fibrous roots, and is more or less completely roofed over. The single egg is large and very dark colored, appearing as though smeared with ink. The young bird, which is clothed with down for a month, remains in the nest for six weeks or more. In the vicinity of Melbourne the place is taken by the very closely allied Victoria Lyre-bird (M. victoria), or Bullan-Bullan, as it is called by the natives, in indication of its gurgling note. Its habits are very similar to those of the first-mentioned form.

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