104 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
Notes. — Also called Red-throated Honey-eater; usually in flocks, fre- 
quenting the flowering trees and shrubs, and also the long grasses, seeking 
insects and nectar. It often catches insects on the wing in the same man- 
ner as the Flycatchers. 
Nest. — A small, cup-shaped structure, composed of soft pieces of 
bark, grass, and spiders’ cocoons, woven together with cobwebs ; lined with 
stiff stems of grass to keep it in shape. Usually suspended from a pen- 
dent branch of a tree up to 20 feet from the ground. 
Eggs. — Two or three, white, spotted and speckled with dark reddish- 
brown or chestnut and slate-grey markings, chiefly at the larger end. 
Breeding-season: October to February or March. 
13. Grey Honey-eater Lacustroica whitei North 
Lac-us-troic'-a — L., lacus , lake; Gk, oicos, home: whitei — Alfred White, 
son of H. L. White, Belltrees, Scone, New South Wales. 
Distribution . — From Murchison (mid- western Australia) to the Mac- 
donnell Range (central Australia). 
Notes. — Also called Inconspicuous Honey-eater. Usually in pairs, 
frequenting tracts of country where large mulga and other bushes grow. 
Its call-notes have been described as a succession of five or six monotones, 
high-pitched but musical, and uttered in a rapid, sibilant manner. Food: 
insects, procured in the foliage. 
Nest . — A frail structure of horse-hair, loosely woven and held to- 
gether with spiders’ webs and cocoons, and placed near the extremity of a 
slender branch about 7 feet from the ground. 
Eggs. — Two, white, moderately marked with small, rich, reddish- 
brown spots mixed with some underlying markings of dull purplish-grey at 
the larger end. Breeding-season: probably August to November. 
14. Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris Latham 
Ac-anth-o-rhyncK-us — Gk, acantha, spine, thorn; Gk, rhynchos , beak: 
ten-u-i-ros-tris — L., tenuis , slender; L., rostrum , bill. 
Distribution . — Eastern Australia, from Cairns (northern Queens- 
land) to South Australia, Kangaroo Island, Tasmania, and the islands of 
Bass Strait. 
Notes.— Also called Spine-billed Honey-eater, Humming-bird, and 
Cobbler’s Awl. Usually in pairs, frequenting alike scrub and heath-lands 
and open forest country ; it is also a familiar bird in gardens and is ex- 
ceptionally tame, flitting from flower to flower, probing each bloom with 
its long, spine-like bill" Its call is a succession of shrill, musical notes; 
often, when in flight, its wings make a peculiar clapping sound. Food : 
insects and nectar. 
Nest. A rather deep, cup-shaped structure, composed of bark, 
grasses and moss, warmly lined with fine grass and feathers. Usually 
suspended from a thin, horizontal, forked branch of a thick bush up to 
20 feet or more from the ground. 
