GREY CROW-SHRIKE. 
a loud, piping, bell-like call, very clear, yet harsh, and a distinct cry of alarm, 
at which most other birds and animals take warning. These birds nest, as a 
rule, very early, the season being somewhat late.” 
Captain White noted : “ This bird comes between Neostrepera versicolor 
intermedia and N. v. plumbea, being lighter in plumage than the first named 
and much darker then N. v. plumbea. The bird is much larger than either of 
these subspecies. Found in the Everard Range, where it was very rare and shy.” 
Gould wrote : “ The Strepera arguta is abundantly dispersed over 
Tasmania, but is more numerous in the central parts of the island than in 
the districts adjacent to the coast ; it also inhabits South Australia, in which 
country it is more scarce, and all the specimens I have seen are rather smaller 
in size. I have never seen it in any part of New South Wales that I have 
visited, neither have specimens occurred in the numerous collections from 
the west coast that have come under my notice. It is the largest, the boldest, 
and the most animated species of the genus yet discovered. If not strictly 
gregarious, it is often seen in small companies of from four to ten, and during 
the months of winter even a greater number are to be seen congregated 
together. The districts most suited to its habits are open glades in the forest 
and thinly timbered hills ; although it readily perches on the trees, its natural 
resort is the ground, for which its form is admirably adapted, and over which 
it passes with amazing rapidity, either in a succession of leaps or by running. 
Fruits being but sparingly diffused over Australia, insects necessarily constitute 
almost its sole food, and of these nearly every order inhabiting the surface 
of the ground forms part of its diet ; grasshoppers are devoured with great 
avidity. Its note is a loud ringing and very peculiar sound, somewhat resem- 
bling the words clink , clink , several times repeated, and strongly reminded 
me of the distant sound of the strokes on a blacksmith’s anvil, and hence the 
term arguta appeared to me to be an appropriate specific appellation for this 
new species.” 
Mr. Frank Littler has written me: “ I have found this bird fairly 
plentiful in some districts in Tasmania, while in others it is comparatively 
rare. Grasshoppers, berries and fruits constitute the principal items in the 
diet. The loud, ringing notes of clink, clink, sound very peculiar in the bush 
when all is still. It is only found in Tasmania (not on the islands of Bass 
Straits).” 
Since Mr. Littler wrote this the species has been recorded from Flinders 
Island in Bass Straits, but on King Island in the same Straits a form of S. 
fuliginosa only occurs. 
McClymont has written : “ The brow of the ridge is frequented by large 
companies of Hill Crow-Shrikes ( Strepera arguta). There are at times as 
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