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 manner 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 
pendent 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 Lacuslroica whitei North 
Lac-us-troic'-a— L., lacus , lake; Gk, oicos, home: xuhitei— Alfred White, 
son of H. L. White, Belltrees, Scone, New South Wales. 
distribution. From Murchison (mid-western Australia) to the 
Macdonnell 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 together 
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 tcnuirostris Latham 
Ac-anth-o-rhynch'-us—Gk, acantha , spine, thorn; Gk, rhynchos, beak: 
ten-u-i-ros'-tris- L., tennis , 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 exceptionally 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. 
