MENURA SUPERBA, Davies.
Lyre-Bird.

Menura superba, Davies in Linn. Trans., vol. vii. p. 207. pl. 22.—Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. Ixi.—Collins, New
South Wales, vol. ii. pl. in p. 93.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 313.

Le Parkinson, Vieill. (Ois. Dor.) Ois. de Parad., pls. 14, 15, 16.

Megapodius menura, Wagl. Sys. Av., sp. 1.

Menura Lyra, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 577.—Vieill. Gal. des Ois., pl. 192.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 71.

Menura Nove-Hollandie, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. lxi.—Temm. Man., tom. 1. p. lviiiLess. Traité d’Orn., p. 478.
pl. 88.

Parkinsonius mirabilis, Bechst.

Menura vulgaris, Flem.

Menura paradisea, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. 1. p. 351.

Superb Meaura, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. 11. p. 271.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 159. pl. exxiv.

Pheasant of the Colonists.—Beleck, Beleck and Balangara of the Aborigines.

 

Were I requested to suggest an emblem for Australia among its birds, I should without the slightest
hesitation select the Menura as the most appropriate, being not only strictly peculiar to Australia, but, as
far as is yet known, to the colony of New South Wales.

Perhaps no bird has more divided the opinion of ornithologists, as to the situation it should occupy in the
natural system, than the one here represented; and although more than fifty years have now elapsed since
the bird was first discovered, little or no information has been hitherto published respecting its economy
and habits, as ornithologists have had only its external structure to guide them in their opinions. Aware
of this fact, I paid considerable attention to the subject while in Australia; and after a minute observation
of the bird in a state of nature, Iam decidedly of opinion, that it has not, as has been very generally
considered, the most remote relationship to the Galhnacee ; but that it forms, with the American genera
Pteroptochos, Scytalopus, and their allied groups, a family of the Insessorial Order, to which Troglodytes,
Amytis, Stipiturus, Malurus, Dasyornis and Psophodes closely assimilate in their habits, and of which they
will in all probability be hereafter found to form a part. Notwithstanding the great size of Menura and
the extraordinary form of its tail, in almost every other point it presents a striking resemblance to its
minute congeners: like them, it possesses the bristles at the base of the bill, but to a less extent, the same
unusual mass of loose, flowing, hair-like feathers on the back and rump, the same extraordinary power of
running, the like feebleness of flight; all which will, I trust, render it evident that there are sufficient
grounds for the opinion I have here expressed. Many intervening genera will, doubtless, yet be discovered
to complete the series of affinities: at all events, if, as | am informed is the case, the young of Menura
are helpless and blind when hatched, it cannot with propriety be placed with the Gallinacee.

In the structure of its feet, in its lengthened claws, and in its whole contour, the Lyre-bird presents the
greatest similarity to the Pteroptochos megapodius of Kittlitz, Another singular circumstance by which
their alliance is rendered still more evident, is the fact that Pteroptochos differs from the other families of
the Insessorial Order in having fourteen feathers in its tail, and that AZenura also differs in the same parti-
cular in possessing sixteen. ‘The immense feet and claws of these two birds admirably adapt them for the
peculiar localities they are destined to inhabit; and the same beautiful modification of structure is observable
in the other genera, equally adapting them for the situations they are intended to fulfil. Thus Menura passes
with ease over the loose stones and the sides of rocky gullies and ravines, while the Madwi trip over the
more open and even ground, and the Dasyorni with equal facility thread the dense scrubs and reed-beds.

As I have before stated, the great stronghold of the Lyre-bird is the colony of New South Wales, and
from what I could learn, its range does not extend so far to the eastward as Moreton Bay; neither have
I been able to trace it to the westward of Port Philip on the southern coast ; but further research can alone
determine these points. It inhabits equally the brushes on the coast, and those that clothe the sides
of the mountains in the interior; on the coast it is especially abundant at Western Port and Illawarra,
and in all probability over a great portion of the unexplored intervening country: in the interior the cedar
brushes of the Liverpool range, and according to Mr. George Bennett, the Mountains of the Tumat country
are among the places of which it is a denizen. Of all the birds I have ever met with, the M/enura is by far
the most shy and difficult to procure. While among the brushes I have been surrounded by these ede
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 de-
sirable 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 un-
derstand the excessive labour attendant on the pursuit of the MJenura. Independently 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 frequently be
seen, and even on horseback closely approached, 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 successful mode of procuring specimens,
is by wearing a tail of a full-plumaged male in the hat, keeping it constantly in motion, and concealing the

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