54 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



its attention to the pear-slugs, destroying numbers of them when 

 they are full grown and are thinking of descending and turning to 

 pupae in the ground. This bird is often kept in captivity, either a 

 young one that has been taken from the nest or an old one that 

 has been wounded. During the summer the song of the White-eye 

 is somewhat feeble and uninteresting, but the opposite is the case 

 during the colder months. I have often been astonished at the 

 power and sweetness of its notes. The flight of this species is 

 fairly strong; it sometimes may be seen flying in flocks at a great 

 altitude. 



Sub- Family — Myzomelinae. 



*SPINEBILL 



(AcantJiorJiynchus tenuirostris. Lath.) 



Male. — I have carefully compared typical Tasmanian examples 

 with Gould's description of both .4. tenuirostris and .4. dubius, 

 and find the birds tally exactly with neither, but are a compound. 

 Crown of the head shining greenish-black ; space between the bill 

 and the eye, ear coverts, lunulated band on the sides of the chest, 

 primaries, and six middle tail feathers black; the remainder of the 

 tail feathers black at base, rest white; back of the neck rufous- 

 chestnut, passing into chestnut-brown on the upper part of the 

 back ; secondaries, greater wing coverts, and rump greenish-grey ; 

 throat, cheeks, and chest white, the first with a patch of chestnut- 

 brown in the centre; abdomen, flanks, and under tail coverts light 

 chestnut-brown; bill and feet black. Dimensions in mm.: — 

 Length, 140.5; bill, 21; wing, 59.5; tail, 58; tarsus, 20. 



The dimensions of the above bird tally with Gould's .4. dubius 

 except that the bill is slightly shorter. 



Fetnale. — Similar in plumage to male. 



Young. — " Differs from the adult in being without the crescentic 

 mark on the chest; the throat and chin are uniformly sandy- 

 grey ; the rest of the under surface is orange-brown ; head and 

 back olive-brown ; upper surface of wings glossy greyish-black 

 (plumbaginous), under surface of wings grey; tail feathers, 10 in 

 number, black, except three, which are white for about the half 

 or one-third their length, reckoned from the tip. Iris brown 

 tipped with red; tarsus lead-coloured; upper mandible brown, 

 lower mandible yellow" (J. E. M'Clymont). 



Nest. — Cup-shaped and deep ; neatly constructed of moss and 

 strips of bark, and lined with grass, then feathers. The situation 

 chosen is usually either the centre of a thick bush or the top of 

 a tea-tree. 



Eggs. — Clutch two to three; shape varies from oval with one 

 end somewhat pointed to stoutish oval ; texture fine ; surface a 

 little glossy; colour pale buff, darker on the apex, sparsely spotted, 



