66 THE WOMBAT. 



piece of construction ; it is small — so small indeed as to be 

 very hard to see when swung away up in a cluster of gum 

 leaves — round, and cupshaped ; and it is built of fine shreds 

 of bark and fibre interwoven, while the inside is lined with 

 hair or feathers. Nests of this species are rare at Queenscliff 

 Road, though at Airey's Inlet I have often discovered the nest 

 high up in a messmate tree. It is difficult to get at, since it is 

 always far out in the leaves at the end of a high bough. 

 Usually one has to cut through the bough some way from the 

 nest, and then gradually draw it in until within reach. Three 

 is the number of eggs laid, and the month of December is the 

 time for finding them. The pallid cuckoo has evidently a 

 high opinion of the lunulated honey-eater's care as a foster- 

 parent, for one may often see the eggs of both species in the 

 one nest. 



The Spinebill or Cobbler's Awl ( ' Acanthorhynchus tenui- 

 rostrisj'is to be seen with the other honey-eaters in our gardens 

 in the winter time, flitting hither and thither, and probing 

 with its long beak the deep flowers of some honey-yielding 

 shrub. To find the nest, however, is a hard matter, and seven 

 years of hunting in this district left me still without the coveted 

 set of eggs. I have, however, an egg in my collection taken 

 at Airey's Inlet in 1S90, and in January of this year (1S97), I 

 found a nest in a shortwood bush on the banks of Airey's Creek 

 in a quiet locality some eight miles from the mouth. It was 

 built of fine pieces of grass and warmly lined with feathers, 

 some of which projected over the edge of the nest. The bird 

 was very quiet and almost suffered herself to be caught. The 

 nest was within easy reach of the ground, but, unfortunately, 

 contained a pair of young birds. 



Similar in its habits to the Spinebill is the Tasmanian 

 honey-eater (Lichmera australasiana), a shy bird, and one whose 

 eggs, so far as I know, have not been taken in the district, 

 though it most certainly breeds in the scrub behind Spring 

 Creek and Anglesea River. It frequents ti-tree creeks, and 

 may be known by a horse-shoe shaped mark on the breast. 

 A dash of yellow on the wings makes it something like the 

 New Holland honey-eater. I have noted the Tasmanian honey- 

 eater at Anakie, Spring Creek, and Jan Juc, and in that forest 

 generally. In May, 1889, many of these birds were to be seen 

 in the Botanical Gardens along with a dozen or so other 

 species of honey-eater, but they did not remain till the spring. 

 The nest is to be sought in the scrubby ti-tree that fringes 

 forest creeks ; it is wider and thicker than the nests of the 

 majority of the smaller honey-eaters. 



The Brush Wattle Bird (Anellobia mellivora) greatly re- 

 sembles the common wattle bird in appearance, but is smaller 



