. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Fi?. -The Lyre Bird. Quaketails, and might be confounded with them were it not for theircompressed bill. They feed on autumnal fruits. A72iJuts arhoreus(the Tree Pipit), A. p7atcnsis (the Meadow Pipit), A. aquaticus (theRock Pipit), and A. Ricardi (Richards Pipit), are the British Lyre-tail {Mamira superba, Fig. 235) is a bird of Ncav SouthWales, about the size of a Common Fowl, and has been classed by ORIOLES. s^^s some naturalists among Gallinac
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Fi?. -The Lyre Bird. Quaketails, and might be confounded with them were it not for theircompressed bill. They feed on autumnal fruits. A72iJuts arhoreus(the Tree Pipit), A. p7atcnsis (the Meadow Pipit), A. aquaticus (theRock Pipit), and A. Ricardi (Richards Pipit), are the British Lyre-tail {Mamira superba, Fig. 235) is a bird of Ncav SouthWales, about the size of a Common Fowl, and has been classed by ORIOLES. s^^s some naturalists among Gallinaceous Birds ; but Temminck places itin his Insectivorous order, among the Thrushes, and between Ctcculusand Pitta. Cuvier places it among the Passerines. Vigors places itin the order Rasorcs, and in the family of the CracidcE. This curiousbird has a long compressed bill, triangular at the base. It owes itsname to the peculiar disposition of its tail, which in the male has theexact form of a lyre. The singular development of the feathers ofthe tail is its chief attraction, for the plumage is dull and sombre in. J I / Fig. 236.—The Golden Oriole, colour. It inhabits forests; builds its nest in trees, a short distancefrom the ground; and feeds upon worms and insects, which it seeksfor under the dried leaves on the surface of the soil. Its song isdescribed as not unpleasant. The Orioles {Oriohis) have the bill long, stout, nearly straight,rather broad at the base, the dorsal line arched, and the tarsi veryshort. They are found in all the warmer parts of the Old Worldand in the islands of Oceania. Their plumage is richly coloured,shades of yellow and black blending in great variety. The Golden Oriole {Oriolus galbida. Fig. 236) is about the sizeof the Blackbird, which it much resembles in form. The plumage isof a bright yellow; the feathers are oblong, with disunited barbs; 526 REPTILES AND BIRDS. those on the fore part of the head very short. The wings, whenclosed, reach lo within
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
