Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/434

410 decided; but at any rate he is useful, as he often indicates the locality of fresh water, and so has saved many persons from suffering, or perhaps perishing of thirst. He is never shot, and consequently is not fearful of the presence of man.

"I wonder you have not heard the bird before this," he continued, "as he abounds near the cities and towns as well as in the bush." Then the boys remembered that they had heard the same sound on several occasions, but always supposed it was somebody laughing, and did not consider it any business of theirs to investigate.

"There's another curious bird in Australia," said their informant, "which we call the satin, or bower, bird. He builds a bower, or walk, and decorates it with any gaudy feathers or other things he can find, and also with shells, bleached bones, and similar small objects. So well is his propensity known that when we drop a pipe-bowl or a penknife in the bush, we search for it in the bowers or runs of these birds, and very often find it there. As the bower-bird feeds entirely on seeds and fruits, it is evident that he secures these small things for the sake of ornament."

Fred suggested that perhaps the bower-bird had been infected with the bric-a-brac craze which pervades society in other countries. The ambition to gather a cabinet of curiosities was a fashionable one, and why shouldn't a bird have it as well as any one else.

Frank asked if it was possible to see a lyre-bird in that region, and was disappointed when told that it was rarely seen outside of the fern country of South-eastern Australia. Their authority on birds told them that this winged emblem of Australia was about the size of a pheasant, and had a tail three feet long; the outer feathers of the tail are beautifully marked, and form the lyre from which the bird takes its name. The male bird forms a mound of earth on which he promenades, displaying his beautiful tail to its utmost advantage, in the same way that the peacock exhibits his feathered ornaments. The female is as plain as an ordinary hen, and presents a very mean appearance by the side of her lord.

The youths were further informed that the lyre-bird is an excellent mocking-bird, and could imitate with exactness the notes of all the other feathered denizens of the forest. "He can also," said their authority, "reproduce nearly every sound made by man. Settlers in the region inhabited by these birds are often deceived by them, and many amusing stories are told. Sometimes a man working on his clearing hears somebody chopping wood a short distance away, and a dog barking at his