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HOME OF THE LYRE-BIRD, ON THE FAR UPPER YARRA.

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DESTINY OF THE LYRE BIRD.

But the days of the lyre bird are numbered unless it develops the habit of nesting in trees or spots inaccessible to its far more dangerous enemy, an introduced one, the European fox. Scattered feathers and occasional feet are frequently met with in some parts of the country and attest the depredations of the fox, which has now spread over nearly the whole, if not the whole, of the State, and has moreover, developed the faculty of ascending slightly leaning trees.

As regards South Gippsland the lyre bird is doomed to extinction, and that by the agency of man. The mass of hilly country between the valleys of the Latrobe on the north; the Tarago, Lang Lang, and the Bass on the west; the Powlett and Tarwin and the narrow strip between Foster and Merriman Creek on the south and southeast, was a large tract, covered with an extremely dense vegetation and in a continuously moist or wet state before settlement took place. It was united to the main mass of the mountain system of eastern Victoria by a narrow elevated tract of volcanic and similarly timbered country between Warragul and Longwarry. In every gully and on every spur the lovely notes of the lyre bird could be heard, and evidence of its occupation could be seen on every hand. Thousands of these birds must have sported about this country, making the otherwise rather silent forest a huge natural concert hall. Now, alas, the march of settlement, with its breechloaders, forest spoliation, and bush fires, has brought about a sad change from a naturalist's point of view. With the disappearance of the scrub goes the lyre bird, and as the country gets cleared from various sides, so patches only of scrubby country are left. These become the temporary home of such of the outcasts as have escaped the gun, the clearing, and the fire, till they, in their turn, become felled and burnt, when the lyre birds disappear.

NEST, EGG, AND YOUNG.

During my geological survey of the Victorian coal-fields area in South Gippsland in the year 1900 I was camped on the Foster River near Jumbunna, on the edge of a belt of natural forest of an extremely dense character. This scrub was the home of scores of lyre birds, whose lovely notes could be heard all through the day.

Several nests of these birds were found, and as many observations made concerning the birds and their habits as time and opportunity permitted. One nest was situated in the side of one of the short, deep channels ("blind creeks ") that drained the swampy portion of the river flat. As is customary in South Gippsland, the timber had

a Reference to Plate II will show that lyre birds occasionally build in trees.— Eds.

been taken "in the face "-i. e., all the scrub and trees up to, say, 4 feet 6 inches in diameter had been felled, but as they had not then been burnt they lay in hopeless confusion, forming a tangled mass of logs, branches, and scrub, through which young scrub was growing. It was, therefore, an awkward place for stock, or even human beings, to get into a fact that some of the birds had apparently recognized by building their nests in it. Across the river lay the natural forest forming the feeding and sporting ground of the birds, and containing some nests also. I found the nest in question one morning by noticing the female bird fly, or rather float, noiselessly away from the place on my approach. This is a common practice with the lyre bird. A young bird, unfeathered save for tufts of down on its crown and upper back and a few young feathers just breaking forth on the crown, was in the nest. It screeched so vigorously on being disturbed that the female bird quickly appeared, making meanwhile a semiclucking noise, somewhat similar to that of a domestic hen calling her chicks. Whenever the little one gave its whistling screech the mother made this noise and also gave vent to her own quaintly melodious notes, sounding like "Koo-wuk', koo-wuk', koo-wow'," with a growl-like roll on the wow, and "Qua-ack', qua-ack'," some like the guttural of the common opossum. On calming down after the young birds stopped screeching she imitated various birds, principally the tits, scrub wrens (Sericornis), coachwhip bird (Psophodes crepitans), king lory (Aprosmictus cyanopygius), magpie (Gymnorhina leuconota), gray magpie (Strepera cuneicaudata), laughing jackass (Dacelo gigas), black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus), butcher bird (Cracticus destructor), sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrhocephalus), etc.-principally the first three. She then walked leisurely down the sloping log, stopping every now and then to scratch' it-simply through force of habit, for it was quite dry and sound— and then jumped onto the ground and resumed her scratching. All this time she was giving a refined rendering of the liquid notes of the common magpie.

The place was a very unsuitable one for the camera, and, being alone, there was difficulty in getting the photograph of the adult bird (see plate 1). She was very restless, and as a time exposure was necessary, I was compelled to focus the camera on a certain part of the log where she stayed for a second or two while walking down it. Then, as I could get no stick long enough to touch the young one from my post at the camera, I collected pieces of mud and earth, and threw bits of these into the nest. Whenever one hit the little bird a ⚫ screech followed, and the mother was on the log like a flash, but keenly alert and ready to float into the scrub at the least sign of danger.

This is a very important note. Hitherto it was believed that only the male lyre bird mimicked.-Eds.

On one occasion September 22, 1900, when setting up the camera opposite the nest, I heard a slight sound, and, looking up, found the bird on the log within 2 feet of my head. I had not touched the young one, so it had not screeched, and the mother had, therefore, not betrayed herself sooner. All the while I was setting up the camera she moved about the log within a few feet of me, occasionally putting her expanded tail over her head and quietly warbling—an alert, observant, fearless spectator. Now and then the young bird gave its whistling screech, when the old one evinced great distress and moved to a position that gave her a view of the nest, though she never went near it all the time. Whenever I stooped or sat down on the ground she got suspicious and hopped round till seeing me, then walked up quite close to see what was being done. Of my whistling she took very little notice, of talking none at all, but started at once at a gruff noise like coughing.

One of her most graceful movements was walking along the swaying frond of a tree fern. As the frond bent under her weight she gradually reversed her position till she was hanging head downward, suspended by her claws, and quietly warbling the while. This bird was the most sensible of any of the kind that I have seen. She seemed to realize at once that I had no intention of hurting the young one, and though evincing every sign of great distress while her offspring was screeching, became quite reassured of its safety when the screeches ceased.

The bird frequently walked down the log while I was standing at the nest with my head within 2 feet of her. Once I touched her feet with my hand, and I think with a little time and patience I could have caught her. Several times I made a grab at her leg, but she only jumped and floated away to another log, without evincing any signs of fear. Again, to test her timidity, I shouted, waved my arms, and threw little sticks at her without frightening her from her position, and even when one stick hit her on the head she simply floated to another log and resumed her observations.

The entrance to the nest can be seen just on the right of the log under the tail of the bird and just to the left of the extremity of the blackbutt spray with large leaves.

The picture of the young bird (plate Iv) shows it resting in my hat, surrounded with sprigs of tree fern (Alsophila australis), dogwood (Cassinia aculeata), blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis), musk (Aster argophyllus), and laurel (Pittosporum undulatum). It was very frightened when first taken out of the nest, but soon rested quite contentedly in the hat while being photographed.

When in the nest it commenced to screech immediately anything appeared in the entrance, and thrust itself back as far as it could, meanwhile keeping almost on its back, with its powerful feet pushed

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