ACANTrrOIillVNCllUS. 105 



-,/■//„' r/l,- ,n„l Ih,' <',n-^n,rrrts l,l,lrh-ish : „ ln,r n/frutlwrs ,'.,■!,■ ,rrn,,l hrhuHl Hi, n),,.,,- i,urlin,i n/lhr oyp 

 nhU,-; rhn, ,n„l rhrrk.. irhUr : fjimnl, /„n- ,>,',■!,■ ,n,<l n rulhir n„ fhr hn,<l „rrj.- ,■!„.. I„ ul-r<-,l. sli.jhtl n 

 l„ll,'r mi tlir hlllir : ilrmss th,' rhr^l ,l irrll ilrjilird irllitr rrrsrnil fnU„ir.-il 1,1/ ,lir,lll,r „llr „/l,l,lrl/ish- 

 hrnin, ,„i llir iipiirr lirnisl: rnminrlrr ,if lli,- ini'hr siir/urr „,i<J iiin/rr /ml-,;. mis /„,/,■ Imf. Tulal 

 Uiiijlli .-,:-> iiirliis, irlii;/ .':',. /ni/ ,.'•.;, /,/// f)-?, /iirsiis n-;5. 



Adult fkmalk — "^iuiihir in /Jinimiii- to tin innl,'. 



Distribution — Western Australia. 



/nR\HIS very distinct species was described by Gould in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 J- Society in 1837. The habitat there given is \'an Diemen's Land, but Gould corrected 

 his mistake later on when figuring this species in his folio edition of the Birds of Australia. 



Mr. George Masters collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian iMuseum, informs 

 me that he found it \ery abundant at King George's Sound, and that in habits and the 

 situations it frequented, it resembled the eastern representative of the genus A. teniiirostris. Mr. 

 Masters procured nine specimens during his first visit to that part of Western Australia in 1S66, 

 and ten specimens on his second visit in 1S68. Some adult males are paler on the breast than 

 others. Wing-measurement 2'5 to 2-(j inch ; that of a specimen labelled adult female is 2'5 inches. 



Mr. Edwin Ashby writes me: — "I found Acantlvvhynclun supercHiostn very numerous in the 

 neighbourhood of Albany in September 1899, and again near Perth, Western Australia, in 

 August 1901. In the former locality they seemed to bs especially fond of the flowers of a species 

 of Banhsia." 



I'ielative to this species Gould remarks," " The nest, which is constructed among the large- 

 leaved Banksia, is of a round compact form, and is composed of dried fine grasses, tendrils of 

 flowers, narrow threads of bark, and fine wiry fibrous roots matted together with Zamia wool, 

 forming a thick body, which is warmly lined with feathers and Zainia wool mingled together; 

 the extreme diameter of the nest is three inches, and that of the cavity about one inch and a 

 quarter. The eggs are two in number, nine lines long by six and a half broad; the ground 

 colour in some is a delicate buff, in others a very delicate bluish-white, with a few specks of 

 reddish-brown distributed over the surface, these specks being most numerous at the larger end, 

 where they frequently assume the form of a zone. The breeding season is in October." 



A set of two in Mr. G. A. Keartland's collection, taken by Mr. E. J. Harris, in October 

 1899, from a nest in a dog-wood bush at Bunbury, Western Australia, are oval in form, the shell 

 being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. They are of a pale fleshy-white ground colour, which 

 passes into a light red on the larger end, where there are dots, spots and small irregular shaped 

 markings of dull chestnut-red, the remainder of the shell with the exception of a few dots and 

 spots being devoid of markings. These eggs bear a close resemblance to those of Acanlluvliyuihiis 

 tcnuii'osti'is of Eastern Australia, but they are less pointed at the smaller ends than are typical 

 eggs of the latter species. Length (A) 073 x 0-52 inches; (B)o7i x 0-51 inches. 



' Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 554 (1865). 



