Description
Scarce c19.th engraving of the Lyrebird with its tail shown incorrectly extended in a shape of a lyre. The spectacular tail was originally thought to resemble a lyre when a superb lyrebird specimen was prepared in England for display at the British Museum. The taxidermist mistakenly thought that the tail would resemble a lyre, and that the tail would be held in a similar way to that of a peacock during courtship display, and so he arranged the feathers in this way. Later, John Gould (who had also never seen a live lyrebird), painted the lyrebird from the British Museum specimen. The male lyrebird’s tail is not held as in John Gould’s painting, instead, the male lyrebird’s tail is fanned over the lyrebird during courtship display, with the tail completely covering his head and back.
The engraving is also incorrectly states the bird is from Dorei in Papua New Guinea (Manokwari, West Papua) . New Guinea does not have lyre birds.
From Domeny de Rienzi M. G. L, Océanie ou Cinquième Partie du Monde. – Revue Géographique et Ethnographique de la Malaisie, de la Micronésie, de la Polynésie et de la Mélanésie. Paris.
