Alfred Newton, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17… (1911)
“ LYRE-BIRD, the name by which one of the most remarkable birds of Australia is commonly known, the Menura superba or M. novae-hollandiae of ornithologists. It was first observed in 1798 in New South Wales, and though called by its finders a “pheasant”—from its long tail—the more learned of the colony seem to have regarded it as a bird-of-Paradise. ”
Alfred Newton, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17… (1911)
“ Natives are said to hunt it by fixing on their heads the erected tail of a cock-bird, which alone is allowed to be seen above the brushwood. The greater part of its time is said to be passed upon the ground, and seldom are more than a pair to be found in company. One of the habits of the cock is to form small round hillocks, which he constantly visits during the day, mounting upon them and displaying his tail by erecting it over his head, drooping his wings, scratching and pecking at the soil, and uttering various cries—some his own natural notes, others an imitation of those of other animals. ”
Alfred Newton, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17… (1911)
“ It is greatly to be hoped that so remarkable a form as the lyre-bird, the nearly sole survivor apparently of a very ancient race of beings, will not be allowed to become extinct—its almost certain fate so far as can be judged—without many more observations of its manners being made. Several examples of Menura have been brought alive to Europe, and some have long survived in captivity. ”
