Great Antshrike

19 cm. Heavy hooked bill grayish. Eyes dark red. <NMale has a black crown, nape and back. Wings black with two white wing bars. Below white with gray on the lower belly. Tail black, the outer feathers with white barring. <NFemale is rufous above and white below with a concealed white dorsal patch. Song is a series of "tuck"s beginning slowly, accelerating and ascending slightly and ending with a rough "naaah" sound. Calls are a rapid sequence of "tuck"s and "karrrr ... karrrr...karrrr". Generally occurs low and close to the ground in dense scrub. In scrub of clearings and borders of forests, second growth thickets. Inland in Estado S<C4>o Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Reported from Northern Estado S<C4>o Paulo S<C4>o Geronimo, Vanuire, Presidente Epitacio ^40 . To be expected in suitable habitat closer to the coast. A widespread species in South America. 5605 Song. Pocone, Pantanal, Mato Grosso, 8<10>4<10>97. Sunny, 30 <91>C. Scrub. With/Ortalis guttata .: 14980 Call,songs. Pirapora, 11<10>12<10>98. Cloudy, 25<91>C. Gallery forest, scrub. With /Synallaxis frontalis, Pitangus sulphuratus, Cyclarhis gujanensis .: 411 Call. Cornell Cat 47847. Presidente Medici, Ruropolis, Para, 10<10>12<10>89. Rain forest. Recording by M. Isler.: 2558 > :