ACANTHORHYNCHUS SUPERCILIOSUS, Gould.
White-eyebrowed Spine-bill.
Acanthorhynchus superciliosus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part Y. p. 24.
Bool-jeet, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
H i t h e r t o I have only received this fine and well-marked species of Spine-billed Honey-eater from
Western Australia, but hereafter it will doubtless be found to range over a much greater extent of country;
although a very local bird, it is tolerably abundant both at Swan River and King George’s Sound, and is
found to give a decided preference to the forests o f Banksias, upon the blossoms o f which trees it almost
solely subsists. Its food, like that of the other members of its family, consists of insects and honey, for
obtaining which its delicately organized bill and the filamentous form of its tongue are peculiarly adapted ; the
latter member being capable o f considerable protrusion beyond the apex o f the bill, thus enabling the bird to
dive into the deepest interstices of the flowers, which its bill alone would not permit. Like its congeners,
this species occasionally frequents the low shrub-like trees, and sometimes is even to be observed upon the
ground in search of food. In its actions it displays great activity, darting about from branch to branch with
a rapid zigzag motion; its flight is irregular and uneven, hut it often rises perpendicularly in the air,
uttering at tlie same time a rather pretty song; at others it emits a loud and strong note.
The nest, which is constructed among the large-leaved Banksias, is o f a round compact form, and is composed
of dried fine grasses, tendrils o f flowers, narrow threads of bark and fine wiry fibrous roots matted
together with zamia wool, forming a thick body, which is warmly lined with feathers and zamia wool
mingled together; the external diameter of the nest is three inches, and that of the cavity about one inch
and a quarter. The eggs are two in number, nine lines long by six and a half broad; their ground colour
in some instances is a delicate buff“, in others a very delicate bluish white with a few specks o f reddish brown
distributed over the surface, these specks being most numerous at the larger end, where they frequently
assume the form of a zone. The breeding-season is in October.
The sexes present little or no difference in external appearance, but the female may generally be distinguished
from her mate by her more diminutive size and the more slender contour of her body.
Crown of the head, all the upper surface, wings, and six middle tail-feathers greyish brown, the remainder
o f the tail-feathers black, largely tipped with white and narrowly margined on their external edges with
brown ; space between the bill and eye, and the ear-coverts blackish brown; stripe over the eye, chin, and
a broader stripe beneath the eye white; back part of the neck light chestnut-brown; centre of the throat
rich chestnut, bounded below by a crescent of white, which is succeeded by another o f black; abdomen
and under tail-coverts light greyish brown, in some specimens deepening into buff; irides reddish brown;
bill black ; legs dark brown.