SPINEBILL 
331 
SPINEBILL 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris victor ice 
You will see this bird sometimes in gardens in the 
town, especially where there are flowering bushes, 
and in particular the lantern-flower with its pendent 
blooms of yellow and purple. The Spinebill in his 
long and delicately curved bill has a perfect instru- 
ment for the extraction of the nectar from these 
flowers. 
It is a restless species, and gives one little chance 
of prolonged observations upon it ; but when seen 
close at hand it is, in my opinion, as lovely a small 
bird as any we have, so slender is it, so graceful in 
movement, and so varied in colouring. The top of 
the head is greenish black, passing through chestnut 
on the back to grey over the tail. The throat and 
chest are white, with chestnut-brown centre-patch. 
The tail is black, some of the feathers being tipped 
with white. 
When flying, which it does with an irregular 
rocketting motion, it often makes a castanet-like noise 
as of two bits of wood flicked sharply together. Mr. 
Mulder is of opinion that this is caused by the wings 
meeting over the back, and is not produced by the 
mouth. The ordinary note is a monotonous, oft- 
repeated piping whistle. 
In September, 1896, Mr. Mulder saw hundreds of 
these birds feeding on beds of flowering heath (Epacris 
