SPINEBILL. 
Previously lie had concluded : “ The Tasmanian form of tills Honey- 
eater was named by Gould A. dubius, being smaller, shorter in the bill, but 
withal noticeably darker than A. tenuirostris. If such as the Magpie and the 
Browntail remain separate, tills should be treated as a distinct species also. 
The female of A. dubius is duller in plumage than the male, and the bill shorter 
by *1 inch.” 
Ramsay had admitted it in his “Tabular List” in 1888 as distinct 
without comment. 
In my “ Reference List ” in 1912 I criticised the whole of the forms and 
concluded that the Tasmanian form was a valid subspecies and that the 
Kangaroo Island bird also deserved that rank, but that many other local forms 
were also determinable. 
I allowed instead of three doubtful species, six subspecies with distribution 
and diagnostics thus : 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris tenuirostris (Latham). 
New South Wales. 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris cairnsensis Mathews. 
“ Differs from A. t. tenuirostris in its paler under-surface, the throat markings 
being very obscure and the abdomen markings paler. Cairns, North Queens¬ 
land.” 
North Queensland. 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris victories Mathews. 
“Differs from A. t. tenuirostris in its darker coloration above and below'. 
(Olinda) Victoria.” 
Victoria. 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris loftyi Mathews. 
“Differs from A. t. tenuirostris in its smaller size, and in having the head and 
under-surface lighter coloured. Mount Lofty.” 
South Australia. 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris halmaturinus A. G. Campbell. 
Kangaroo Island. 
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris dubius Gould. 
Tasmania. 
These were maintained unchanged in my 1913 “ List,” and the only 
recent comment on any of the forms is that by Campbell and Barnard who 
recorded: “ Acanthorhynchus cairnsensis. The Spinebill was observed on 
the tableland (at Cardwell). It, in general, is a smaller bird than the southern 
species, and the throat markings are nearly obsolete, but our specimen was 
not paler coloured on the under-surface, as mentioned by Mathews.” 
VOL. XI. 
345 
