PIED CROW-SHRIKE. 
No notes of its habits were given by White, while Latham’s account 
reads : “ This species is very numerous at Norfolk Island, and is very clamorous, 
especially at nights ; called a Magpie by our sailors, perhaps on account of the 
colours, added to the similarity of voice. It is a very foolish bird, running 
after any person, and suffering itself to be knocked down with a stick.” 
Though figured among the Watling drawings no note of habits is given. 
Vigors and Horsfield recognised its affinity, classing it as a species of 
Cracticus and quoting : “ This bird,” says Mr. Caley, “ is called by the 
colonists Hircine Magpie. It is very good eating, except the hinder parts, 
which have a strong goatish smell. It is gregarious. I have known large 
flocks of these birds come occasionally into the small trees ( Gum-wattle ) about 
Government House and elsewhere, and hop about from tree to tree until driven 
away by being fired at. They may also be seen in large flocks on the new- 
sown wheat, particularly in the depth of winter.” 
Gould added : “ It is very generally distributed over the colony of New 
South Wales, inhabiting alike the brushes near the coast, those of the mountain 
ranges, and also the forests of Eucalypti which clothe the plains and more 
open country. As a great part of its food consists of seeds, berries, and fruits, 
it is more arboreal in its habits than some of the other species of its group, 
whose structure better adapts them for progression on the ground, and whose 
food principally consists of insects and their larvse. Like the other members 
of the genus, it is mostly seen in small companies, varying from four to six 
in number, seldom either singly or in pairs. I am not, however, inclined to 
consider them as gregarious birds in the strict sense of the word, believing, 
as I do, that each of these small companies is composed of a pair and their 
progeny, which appear to keep together from the birth of the latter until the 
natural impulse for pairing prompts them to separate. It is during flight 
that the markings of this bird are displayed to the greatest advantage, and 
render it a conspicuous object in the bush ; while on the wing it utters a 
peculiar noisy cry by which its presence is often indicated.” 
Mr. Thos. P. Austin has written me : “ Some years during the winter 
small flocks of this species arrive, though most of them never stay long, but 
there are always a few pairs of birds in this district, and they breed here 
sparingly, usually placing their nests near the extreme end of a long thin 
horizontal branch high up in a large tree. The peculiar note of these birds, 
usually uttered while flying, can be heard at a very considerable distance, 
but it is rather difficult to tell by the sound how far away the birds really are.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor’s notes read : “ I have seen these birds in the Blackali 
Ranges in Queensland, also on the Tweed River in New South Wales. On 
the Capricorn Islands, South Queensland, in Oct., 1910, on Nor-West Island, 
VOL. x. 
409 
