Crossword Genius

Sick bird sounded wrong (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

illegal

'wrong' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'sick bird' is the wordplay.
'sick' becomes 'ill' (synonyms).
'bird' becomes 'egal' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ill'+'egal'='ILLEGAL'

'sounded' is the link.
This may not be correct. It may be part of another bit of the clue.

(Other definitions for illegal that I've seen before include "Not allowed" , "Not in conformity with law" , "Prohibited by law" , "murder sure is!" , "Unlawful" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun and The Times.
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