Lyre-Bird

a perching bird of Australia. Like other animals of this region its makeup is contrary to all rules. It has the grasping feet of a perching bird, the body of a domestic hen, the appearance of a pheasant, and leads the life of a grouse. The male is remarkable for a showy tail somewhat like that of a peacock, the outside feathers of which curve inward, then outward at the tips like the frame of a lyre. It lives a shy life in the scrub. It nests on the ground.