SPINY-CHEEKED HONEY-EATER. 
busy himself aU day, passing from bimch to bunch of the mistletoe with which 
the tree was covered, our meals being accompanied by its quaint but cheerful 
song—just a subdued, bubbling, gurgling song, that was very pleasant to listen 
to.” 
Captain S. A. White has also noted in connection with the birds of the 
Port Augusta district: “ Wherever there was a’patch of scrub the noisy Spiny- 
cheeked Honey-eater was to be found. Many of their notes were very pleasing 
to the ear, liquid and gurgling, like the sound of running or falling water. These 
Honey-eaters were very pugnacious ; two or tluee males were often seen in 
fierce conflict,” and of the Gawler Ranges : “ This is one of the most (if not 
the most) familiar bird of the vast northern country. Wherever a bit of scrub 
is found surely these birds are there. How often is the death-hke silence which 
reigns amidst the liills broken by the strange guttural and gurgling notes of 
these birds ! Stomach contents, one bud: fragments of at least two kinds 
of weevils, and of seeds, of the same kind.” 
Chandler has written of the bud-life of Kow Plains, Victoria: “ These 
noisy birds were observed in hundreds. Most of them were preparing to nest 
about the middle of October. Two pairs nested close to camp, in maUee gums. 
I watched one bud nest-building. The female alone was doing the work. 
The male frequently flew near her wlule she was flying to and from the nest. 
In the inteiwals he would perch in a pine tree, close to the nesting site, and 
utter his gurgling notes. At times he made a curious flight into the air, emitting 
a loud chattering call the while, then floated on outstretched wings back to the 
pine tree. Perhaps on his return he would savagely chase a Graceful Honey- 
eater out of the neighbomliood.” 
Captam S. A. White, reporting on the Birds of Lake Victoria and Murray 
River, noted: “A very common bird. The rufous coloration on the throat 
seemed to be much paler in comparison with buds from fruther north.” 
Mr. Tom Cai-ter’s notes read: “ The Western Spiny-cheeked Honey- 
eater is a fairly common winter visitor in the Gascoyne and North-west Cape 
districts. They feed mostly in thickets, composed of wattles and other bushes, 
and usually near, or on the grormd. The peculiar liquid gurgling notes of these 
birds are quite distinct from those of any other species of my knowledge, and 
are unmistakable. A few of these birds have been observed feeding in dense 
mangroves near the North-west Cape, also in bushes on the rocky ranges near 
Point Cloates ; neither of these two last-named localities have any fresh-water 
pools or even ‘ dubs ’ at anytime within thirty nules, but small cavities in 
the ranges hold a little water for a few days after rain in winter. I mention 
this because Mr. Shortridge {Ihis, 1909, p. 654) states that this species is known 
as the ‘ Water-bird ’ by the colonists of Western Australia, a name that is 
93 
