ood. But
the bird has as well a national and sentimental value. Next to
the emu it is the most typical Australian bird. It is peculiar
to Australia, for in no other country is it to be seen.
Comparatively speaking it is a <i>rara avis</i> even in
Australia itself, for it is only to be found in the most
secluded parts of two colonies--Victoria and New South Wales.
It is the native pheasant. The aborigines call it
`Beleck-Beleck,' and whites call it the `lyre-bird' from the
shape of its tail; the ornithologists have named it
<i>Menura</i>. There are three species--the <i>Victoriae</i>
of this colony, and the <i>Alberta</i> and <i>superba</i> of
New South Wales. The general plumage is glossy brown, shaded
with black and silver grey, and the ornate tail of the male
bird is brown with black bars. They live in the densest
recesses of the fern gullies of the Dividing Range with the
yellow-breasted robin, the satin-bird, and the bell-bird as
their neighbours. They are the most shy of birds, and are
oftener heard than seen. Their notes, too, are heard more
frequently than they are recognized, for they are consummate
mimics and ventriloquists. They imitate to perfection the
notes of all other birds, the united voicing of a flock of
paraquetts [sic], the barking of dogs, the sawing of timber,
and the clink of the woodman's axe. Thus it is that the
<i>menura</i> has earned for itself the title of the Australian
mocking-bird. Parrots and magpies are taught to speak; as a
mimic the lyre-bird requires no teacher."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 9. p. 9, col. 1:

"If the creature was lovely its beauty was marketable and
fatal--and the lyre-bird was pursued to its last retreats and
inveigled to death, so that its feathers might be peddled in
our streets."

M

<hw>Mackerel</hw>, <i>n</i>. In Australia, <i>Scomber
antarcticus</i>, Castln., said to be identical with <i>Scomber
pneumatophorus</i>, De la Roche, the European mackerel; but
rare. In New Zealand, <i>Scomber australasicus</i>, Cuv. and
Val.

<hw>Macquarie Harbour Grape</hw>, or <hw>Macquarie Harbour
Vine</hw>, <i>n</i>. the Tasmanian name for <i>Muhlenbeckia
adpressa</i>, Meissn. <i>N.O. Polygonaceae</i>; called
<i>Native Ivy</i> in Australia. See <i>Ivy</i> and
<i>Grape</i>.

1831. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 265:

"That valuable plant called the <i>Macquarie harbour grape</i>.
It was so named by Mr. Lempriere, late of the Commis