(原版)澳大利亚语文第三册 LESSON 5
LESSON 5 THE LYRE-BIRD
THE LYRE-BIRD
1. The lyre-bird is so called because the tail feathers of the male bird when spread out are shaped like a kind of harp, called a lyre.
2. The hen-bird has dull brown feathers, and a small tail of the same colour, but the male bird's feathers shine like polished bronze, and he has a long tail.
3. When this tail is spread out to the sun, its likeness to the shape of a lyre is plainly seen.
4. Two bronze-brown [1] side feathers enclose two of a lighter brown colour, and between these there are about a dozen long slender white sprays.
5. The lyre-bird is very shy, and likes to hide in forest glades or in gullies in the scrub.
6. Here he builds for himself a mound of earth and stones to serve as a playground.
7. When the sun shines on this mound, the bird opens his tail and struts [2] about very proudly. He calls and clucks to draw the attention of his mate to his fine feathers.
THE BIRD OPENS HIS TAIL.
8. He can mock [3] any bird in the scrub, screech like a parrot, laugh like a jackass, pipe like a magpie, crow like a cock, crack like the whip-bird, or cackle like a hen.
9. Sometimes he will make these noises one after another, so that the hearer thinks there are many kinds of birds near.
10. The lyre-bird is about the same size as a game fowl. The hen-bird lays one egg of a greyish colour, with spots and blotches [4] of purple brown.
11. She makes her nest on the ground, near the root of a tree or upon a ledge of rock. It is woven of bark fibres and fine roots and lined with feathers.
12. Then she builds a mound round the nest to shelter it. In the side of this mound she makes an entrance to her nest.
13. These clever birds are very scarce now, and to shoot them is against the law.
* * *
Don't kill the birds, the pretty birds,
That play among the trees;
Twould make the earth a cheerless place,
To see no more of these.
—MARY HOWITT
* * *
[1] bronze-brown: A shining brown which in certain lights shows shades of blue or green.
[2] struts: Walks proudly to show how fine he is.
[3] mock: Imitate.
[4] blotches: Shapeless spots.
