the scientific name of the genus ofthe Lyre-bird (q.v.), so called from the crescent-shapedform of the spots on the tail; the tail itself is shaped like alyre. (Grk. maen, moon, crescent, and 'oura,tail.) The name was given by General Davies in 1800.
1800. T. Davies, `Description of Menura superba,' in`Transactions of the Linnaean Society' (1802), vol. vi. p. 208:
«The general colour of the under sides of these two [tail]feathers is of a pearly hue, elegantly marked on the inner webwith bright rufous-coloured crescent-shaped spots, which, fromthe extraordinary construction of the parts, appear wonderfullytransparent.»