The nest of this species is a small cup-shaped and rather beautiful
structure, although not so compact or neatly formed as that of many
other birds; those I found, both in Van Diemen’s Land and New South
Wales, were built on some low shrubs a few feet from the ground, mostly
in a species of _Leptospermum_; it is outwardly constructed of moss and
grasses, and lined with feathers; the eggs are two in number, of a
delicate huffy white, increasing in depth of colour towards the larger
end; in some instances I have found them marked with a zone of reddish
chestnut spots shaded with indistinct markings of grey, intermingled
with very minute ink-like dots; in form the eggs are much lengthened and
pointed; their medium length is nine lines and breadth six lines.
Crown of the head shining greenish black; space between the bill and the
eye, ear-coverts, lunated band on the sides of the chest, primaries, and
six middle tail-feathers black; the remainder of the tail-feathers black
largely tipped with white, and slightly margined on the external web
with brown; back of the neck rufous chestnut, passing into
chestnut-brown on the upper part of the back; secondaries, greater
wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts grey; throat, cheeks and chest
white, the first with a patch of chestnut-brown in the centre, deepening
into black on its lower edge; abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts
light chestnut-brown; irides scarlet; bill black; feet reddish brown.
Specimens from Van Diemen’s Land have the patch in the centre of the
throat and the lunated marks on the sides of the neck much deeper and
the whole of the under surface richer chestnut.
The figures are those of a male and female, on a branch of what is
considered a white variety of _Epacris impressa_.
[Illustration:
ACANTHORHYNCHUS SUPERCILIOSUS: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
ACANTHORHYNCHUS SUPERCILIOSUS, _Gould_.
White-eyebrowed Spine-bill.
_Acanthorhynchus superciliosus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V.
p. 24.
_Bool-jeet_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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