NESTS AND EGGS OF HONEY-EATERS. 583 
Eqggs.—Clutch 2-3 ; somewhat lengthened in form; texture 
fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour pale buff, delicately spotted, 
especially about the apex, with chestnut and obscure purplish- 
grey. Dimensions of a clutch in parts of an inch—(1) ‘75 x ‘57; 
(2) ‘74 x ‘55. 
A set from Tasmania are larger, rounder, and the markings of 
a richer brown, the ground colour being also a darker shade on 
the apex ; (1) °72 x ‘53; (2) -72 x °53; (3) ‘72 x °52. 
Observations.—This ruby-eyed, slender-billed Honey-eater enjoys 
chiefly a southern habitat. It is an intensely interesting and 
familiarly known bird in our gardens, where it may often be heard 
repeating faster and faster its single high-pitched note, and where 
the bird appreciates the nectar of the Fuchsia bells just as well 
as the sweets from tubular blooms of Epacris growing in native 
heath-like tracts. 
Not much is known of the breeding economy of the little Spine- 
bill, consequently their eggs are deemed rare. Except one nest 
containing young found many years ago at Toorak, near Melbourne, 
I was unable to observe this Spine-bill’s nest in the open till one 
day (20/11/96), when Mr. G. E, Shepherd, my son, and myself 
were exploring an enchanting gully near Somerville. Here we 
discovered in the space of about half a mile three nests—two 
building, and one with eggs. One nest was prettily ensconced in 
a bunch of flowering Clematis at the top of a Ti-tree (d/elaleuca). 
This nest was subsequently revisited by Mr. Shepherd, who found 
in it an egg of the Spine-bill, together with the much larger egg of 
the Pallid Cuckoo (C. pallidus). The Spine-bills sometimes build 
near the flowering Mistletoes (Loranthus), upon which they feed. 
Ornithologists are divided whether the Tasmanian Spine-bill 
should be separated from the mainland species or not. However, 
as Gould pointed out, although very nearly allied, there is a differ- 
ence in the two birds, the Tasmanian variety being distinguished 
by its smaller size (which is the reverse of the general rule as 
regards the insular representatives of the mainland species) and 
by the much deeper colouring of the crescent-shaped markings on 
the neck, also of the brown on the abdomen. 
The nests found by Gould, both in Tasmania and on the main- 
land, were built in low shrubs a few feet from the ground, mostly 
in a species of Leptospermum. 
The following is a description of a Tasmanian nest :—Cup- 
shaped, deep ; composed of wool chiefly, grass, and moss; inside 
lined with feathers. Dimensions over all about 3 inches by 24 
inches in depth ; egg cavity 2 inches across by 1? inches deep. 
Mr. A. E. Brent has usually found them in a bushy shrub, such 
as Mimosa ‘‘ Box” or Wattle-trees. He has also found the unusual 
complement of four eggs in a Spine-bill’s nest. He also recollects 
taking a Tasmanian Spine-bill’s nest with three eggs, and within 
