quicko: the bird that sounds like a dying dog

I'm not much of a bird person, though I have to admit Australian birds are amazingly cool. What's eating at me, though, is the bird that sounds like a dying dog. Walking to work mid-morning I once spent an entire block peering in car windows to try to find the obviously distressed canine and assist it -- to no avail. After about three minutes I finally realized it wasn't a dog at all, but a bird that sounded remarkably plaintive. I don't know what it is, but I now recognize it regularly on the walk to work -- either that, or someone's been shooting tall puppies again.