Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia

by Edward Ellis Morris

<hw>Lyre-bird</hw>, <i>n</i>. an Australian bird, originally called the <i>Bird of Paradise of New South Wales</i>; then called a <i>Native Pheasant</i>, or <i>Mountain Pheasant</i>, and still generally called a <i>Pheasant</i> by the Gippsland bushmen. The name Lyre-bird apparently began between 1828 and 1834. It is not used by Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales' (1828), vol. i. p. 303. See <i>Menura</i>. The species are—

The Lyre-bird—
<i>Menura superba</i>, Davies.

Albert L.-b.—
<i>M. alberti</i>, Gould.

Victoria L.-b.—
<i>M. victoriae</i>, Gould.

Since 1888 the <i>Lyre-bird</i> has been the design on the eight-penny postage-stamp of New South Wales.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 435:

"The Bird of Paradise of New South Wales [with picture]. This elegant bird, which by some is called the Bird of Paradise, and by others the Maenura Superba, has a straight bill, with the nostrils in the centre of the beak."

1802. D. Collins, `History of English Colony of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 335:

"<i>Menura superba</i>." [But not the name lyre-bird].

1834. Geo. Bennett, `Wanderings in New South Wales, etc.,' /vol./ i. p. 277: