GREY MAGPIE 
the year through. It is nowhere more abundant than 
between Jan Juc and Anglesea. At Airey's Inlet and 
at Lorne it gathers in bands for the fruit season, but 
at other times is not so plentiful. It is also resident 
in smaller numbers in the bush between Drysdale and 
Ocean Grove, and at the You Yangs and Anakie. 
When no fruit is to be had, these birds, like the 
Otway Foresters, live upon insects, feeding chiefly 
on the ground. The late Mr. William Berthon, of 
Wybalenna, Airey's Inlet, once related to me how 
he had watched one of the Colac tribe of Blacks in 
the early days catching these birds for food. A pair 
were feeding in an open bit of grass-land ; the native 
broke a large green bough from a gum tree, and 
going down on all fours, holding the bough in front 
of him, began to creep towards the birds, making 
halts every few yards so as not to alarm them by too 
rapid an approach. To Mr. Berthon's amazement, 
the Blackfellow in this way got actually to within 
arm's length of the first bird ; shot out his hand 
from behind the screen, grabbed the bird by the 
neck, and killed it by pressure in such a way that the 
bird had no time to utter a sound ; and then, pro- 
ceeding with his bough, repeated the process with 
the second bird ; then returned smiling to the aston- 
ished witness of his skill. 
The flight of this species, though heavy and lumber- 
ing to watch, is not by any means slow. On the 
wing they utter their strange ringing shriek which 
sounds like a sudden protest from some piece of 
