CRACTICUS DESTRUCTOR.
Butcher Bird.
Vanga destructor, Temm. Man., Part I. p. lix.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 213.—Gould in Syn.
Birds of Australia, Part I.
Barita destructor, Temm. PI. Col. 273.
Wad-do-wad-ong, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.
Butcher Bird, of the Colonists of Swan River.
T h i s bird is a permanent resident in New South Wales and South Australia, where it inhabits the margins
o f the brushy lands near the coast, the sides o f hills, and the belts o f trees which occur in the more open
parts o f the country; in fact I scarcely know of any Australian bird so generally dispersed. Its presence is
at all times betrayed by its extraordinary note, a jumble of discordant sounds impossible to be described.
It is nearly always on the trees, where it sits motionless on some dead or exposed branch whence it can
survey all around, and particularly the surface of the ground beneath, to which it makes perpendicular
descents to secure any large insect or lizard that may attract its sharp and penetrating eye; it usually
returns to the same branch to devour what it has captured, but at times will resort to other trees and impale
its victim after the manner of the true Shrikes: mice, small birds, and large Phasmice come within the list o f
its ordinary diet. September and the three following months constitute the period o f incubation. The nest,
which is large and cup-shaped, is neatly formed of sticks, and in some instances beautifully lined with the
shoots of the Casuarina and fibrous roots. Considerable difference is found to exist in the colour o f the eggs,
the ground colouring of some being dark yellowish brown, with obscure blotches and marks o f a darker hue,
and here and there a few black marks not unlike small blots o f ink ; while in others the ground colour is
much lighter and the darker markings are more inclined to red, and to form a zone round the larger end;
the eggs are generally three in number, one inch and three lines long by eleven lines broad.
Under ordinary circumstances this species is very shy and retiring, but at times is altogether as bold ; as
an evidence of which I may mention, that having caught a young Edpsaltria and placed it in my pocket, the
cries o f the little captive attracted the attention of one of these birds, which continued to follow me through
the woods for more than an hour, when the little tenant, disliking its close quarters, effected its escape and
flitted away before me : I immediately gave chase ; but the Butcher-bird, who had been following me, pounced
down within two yards of my face and bore off the poor bird to a neighbouring tree, and although I ran
to the rescue, it was o f no avail, the prize being borne away from tree to tree until the tyrant paid the
forfeit o f his life by being shot for his temerity.
The sexes are so similar in appearance, that it is impossible to distinguish one from the other by any
other means than dissection.
The male has the crown of the head, ear-coverts and back o f the neck black; a white mark from the
base of the bill to the ey e; back and rump dark greyish brown ; upper tail-coverts white; wings blackish
brown; the middle secondaries white along their outer edges; tail black, all the feathers except the two
middle ones tipped with white on their inner webs ; under surface greyish white ; bill bluish lead-colour at
the base, passing into black at the tip ; feet blackish lead-colour ; irides very dark reddish brown.
The female resembles the male, but is more obscure in all her markings ; and the young differ in being
clothed in a plumage o f mottled tawny and brown.
The figures represent the two sexes o f the natural size.