Cry of bird descending from end of branch (4)
I believe the answer is:
howl
'cry' is the definition.
(howl is a kind of cry)
'bird descending from end of branch' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'owl' (owl is a kind of bird).
'descending from' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'end of' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'branch' is 'h'.
'owl' after 'h' is 'HOWL'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for howl that I've seen before include "Shout" , "Long, loud, emotional cry" , "Long, loud, emotional utterance" , "Bay, clamour" , "Long cry of dog" .)